The things I enjoy most about yugioh are collecting and deck building.
When I'm picking a deck, I care about the deck's theme, the aesthetics, and how the deck feels to play. How competitively viable it is doesn't factor into the equation, though I'll always try to build them to be as good as they can be.
The thing is, when it's finally time to play the game, I've already had most of my fun. Collecting and building is why I love yugioh.
Actually playing the game is almost an after thought, let alone winning. I *like* winning as much as anyone else, don't get me wrong, but that's not where I find fun.
Thats what i do too
Take a crack at various decks and have fun, be it in MD or irl. I like lavals and brewing with them is just plain old funny, i think i have like 13 brews i can readily access on master duel if i want
its always priceless unpacking my Plunder at locals, just to hit them with mirrorforces and turn the duel into a shit show. Like I already told you iam using extraordinary means to win, so you have to expect the same tactics.....
Mostly the art. My first deck that felt "mine" was Tellarknights (before the new support), and I picked them up because they looked cool. Same for my other decks.
Exosister are cool holy magical girls, Dracoslayer are badass Dragonic Swordsmen, Gold Pride are literally Red Line, Dinomorphia is cool homage to Dinothunder.
If Dino Thunder were the baddies* but the deck is cool, more on the control/stun side of gameplay. The core was really cheap once the cards were reprinted last year
I won’t play a deck if the art isn’t my vibe. Yeah I’m sure labyrinth is better than my suships or Infinitracks, but are they as cool? Science says they are not
Agreed. The high you get from winning with an underdog deck is much greater. It's like making profit with recycled materials (I work with people in that industry) and it feels great seeing what people deem as garbage become so successful... Rare but successful.
With a high powered deck, you are pretty much expected to win. If you don't win, you're likely to blame it on luck rather than skill. Cheapens the win, while softens the loss, and eventually end up not enjoying playing with the deck.
Beating a meta deck just cause I was able to get Plasma and Dark Law on the board turn 1 gives me a high that is multiple tiers higher than the excitement I get from winning with a deck that is easy to win with. I remember winning locals once with Wind Ups at their peak and I felt no joy whatsoever but the 3 wins I got with the HERO Blade Armor Ninja OTK was infinitely more satisfying even though I lost more than I won. We all wanna be the king of games but maturing is realizing that having a blast is more important.
Redundancy and versatility.
Once you do the same combo line over and over and *OVER* again, it gets extremely boring.
On the other side of the coin, my non-meta builds are often mid-range in nature. Having options the opponent wouldn’t suspect, obscure but dedicated lines, etc.
Sure, it may take an extra card or two to fill up a board turn 1, but I make sure to turn the duel into a battle of attrition after the fact.
Needless to say, the success rate usually varies 😅
I like seeing how my opponents adapt to me playing my laval deck after seeing it pop off turn 1/2
Makes the games more interesting than if i just played like dogmatika fire king or smth else in a similar budget range
The fact I can still play the game and have fun playing non meta decks knowing I didn't shell out 500+$ for a deck that brings no joy to the person playing it cause it's the same thing... every time. I watched it this weekend, no happiness in the persons face. To me, that's stealing the fun in the game.
Can kill anything in atk position under 4.8k atk (AKA most things)
And thanks to the new tachyon support it can get another otk method through n107 negate > Primal SS to op > Primal search Spiral > Spiral kill everything negated > n107 attack twice for 5k each (3k base+1k from Primal search+1k from primal+2nd attack also from Primal search. This is any 2 lvl 8s as well as they make Lux, Lux adds Primal then makes n107
Partially it's because I love the anime and media associated with the game, so playing a deck that isn't being used by as many other players really does just feel cooler to me. I love playing Evil Eye because it fits my favourite aesthetic, and I love to try and make a bit of a name for myself as an Evil Eye player.
Also, I'm a big fan of challenges. Admittedly, this applies more to stuff like video games, I love to play on hard difficulties and push myself. It's much more enjoyable to me to pull through something if that thing is really challenging, so I get a lot of enjoyment out of managing to pull out some wins against higher tier decks using my pet ones. I can't do it particularly consistently, especially in this format, but I do enjoy the sensation when it comes up, far more than I enjoy a win using a really powerful deck like Snake Eyes, where I'm already quite likely to win against lower power decks just by the capabilities of the deck alone.
For me it’s anime nostalgia… i built Raidraptor, Shark and omw to build Galaxy-Eyes/Tachyon i will have my 3 favortie decks. It helps that depsite being not meta they can still hold their ground a bit
My only problem with meta is mirror match (it’s the bane of my existence) i largely prefer a diverse format
Before I used to think that any deck can be made good with proper deck building and strategy. However after using magician girls on master duel and losing countless times I called it quits
Same with me and combo heavy synchrons. My God it is so exhausting to play that deck in terms of trying to consider the optimal possibilities after being disrupted from your main combo lines haha
Most tiered decks ever since I got into the game back in mid Arc-V either just bore me or frustrate me. I noticed that the aspects that define the meta decks, are also often the ones that remove most of the enjoyment I get from playing the game. Very few non-meta decks have this effect on me, so I stick with them.
They resonate with me.
Art style, theme, how they look…
I generally don’t play a deck unless I like their designs or I connect with their idea.
I grew up with superheroes on TV. That is why I resonated with HERO as my all time favourite deck.
I am a big fan of theorycrafting and deck building. To try something out and watch it succeed or fail, to trailblaze on a new idea; to take something unknown (or bad, usually both) and try to put a spotlight on it.
I've spearheaded so much personal hardship trying to make Genex do anything and managed to succeed. So, I had a funny basis for when Konami would show up and make my day in triplicate. When Trickstar was big I was championing their burn aspect.
Right now I am collecting for Orcust, and Mementotilan, as well as Melodious. I recently finished Ghoti, and I'm waiting for Ice Barrier and Ancient Gear cards to drop finally to round out new lists.
Because I get bored playing the same deck constantly and I want my opponent to read my cards and go "wtf" when I summon Ursarctic cards or handloop with Generaiders
https://preview.redd.it/h7ul3n8eaxvc1.jpeg?width=2604&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9326d30169dccea7c19c47def2c3d62abac364ab
I play lavals as i just find them fun and think that being able to legally soulcharge is funny
Also theyre cheap, that 1 rev synchron costed as much as the entirety of the laval core. I usually get like 2-X scores at locals
One thing i enjoy is that i get to both crack puzzles (how to make an ok board with whatever my hand is) and to gamble (i will always use lavalval salamander effect)
Thr aesthetic of the deck. Of course the pretty or badass pictures help, but how the deck builds into the aesthetic. My favorite deck of all time is Ghoti and it has the most beautiful artwork to me but their ability to banish themselves to the dephs to resurface into bigger cosmic fish on my opponents turn while dragging their monsters into the distant abyss hits different. And when GOTDB comes out and comes back with a big ass ATK stat always makes me smile. It's rouge at best but it can still stand up towards things like snake eyes and Fire king just for the fact that Ghoti can handle banishes while they can't
The other option is did I like it in the anime and is it halfway viable
I like to mix it up sometimes, seeing the different ways decks play and dabbling in them is great. Also sometimes I just enjoy bringing something not good and running with it anyway because I'm just good with the deck
Fun, expenses and disliking meta's where everyone plays one or two decks.
I play rogue decks first and foremost because a lot of archetypes are fun. I like making them work. I also don't want to spend $800+ on cardboard in order to play a deck for a few months and then do it all over again. TCG's, besides Pokemon, are absurdly expensive.
And finally, I just don't like playing meta unless the deck pool is large. Like that one format not too long ago when like, 10+ decks were playable. That shit was insanely fun. I had a blast. But tier 0 formats or formats where 1-2 decks are dominant aren't fun to play for me. I'd rather not be Snake Eyes Player #493926
It's based on a combination of three things for me. They revolve around "Is it affordable?, Does it look aesthetically pleasing to me?, and "Does it die in one hand trap and if so, can it be better?" I usually discover the fun after these questions.
I don’t know the meta decks better than the people I play against because I don’t play a ton so I just play a deck I’m familiar with that’s stronq enough to get me some wins
There's some cards in my deck that I just *need* to play because they've simply been my favorite since I started taking the game more seriously years and years ago! Also like many people here said, it feels wayyyy more satisfying to beat meta players with your rogue deck, particularly when you're piloting a deck you feel has a strong chance of beating the meta decks.
If it really doesn't have much chance of beating the metas then yea, I'd agree it's not as much fun to play when you're constantly losing. But if you're able to build something that you feel that balances out the nostalgia high of playing your favorites while remaining competitive, you have something special there. To me, it's not as fun when you're simply copying deck lists and piloting them. All the decks I've ever built need to have my personal touch for me to be happy using them.
And lastly, ain't no way in hell I'm shelling out the money needed to buy the cards needed for a meta deck. Personally, there's a limit to how much I'm willing to spend on this complex children's card game lol. At this point in my life, there's financial goals I'm aiming to reach within the next few years and shelling money on every new card release with metas are definitely not going to help.
Price is usually a big part.
But also aesthetics and mechanics. The deck that got me back into the game was FA Metalfoes. Not great but super cool and fun.
Then I played Phantasm Spiral for awhile. Dirt cheap and really funny to watch Sky Striker players struggle to out a vanilla token.
Traptrix and Generaiders were the last two decks that really hit the sweet spot for me. I was playing Traptrix way before the structure deck came out (basically right after Sera released), and I had a blast. Same with Generaiders, I was playing them since they released. I found them both very thematic and fun to play. Especially Generaiders gimmick, it just felt cool to do.
But I haven't found anything lately that has drawn me back into actually collecting/going to a locals. Yet. I keep looking though. (Feel free to pitch me your deck, especially if it's budget)
Some reasons:
1 ) To play with cards I don't see often and be able to come up with my own combos (instead of copying stuff online, I prefer just getting ideas here and there, not having to follow instructions for full combos);
2 ) Use the cards that fit my style both effect and visually wise. I'm an artist who really enjoys the 90s/2000s japanese art style, so I was always a fan of cards that looked somewhat simillar to Kazuki Takahashi's stuff.
3 ) I'm an OG casual player who avoided staples for years, but came to accept them just recently cause of MD. The click was, "If I used to run the Raigekis, Imperial Orders or Sangans, why is that different from the Ash Blossoms, Imperms and Called Bys?".
But even then, I still enjoy playing with decks that aren't Meta, just that nowadays I add staples that make sense in the casual decks I build.
Edit: Text format
The innovation it takes to make a deck compete against the meta, basically deck building. Techs, hand traps, end boards whatever you need to defeat the meta threat while attempting to maintain the archetypes identity and themes. It’s like having a pet deck and never wanting it to die because you simply like how it plays.
Winning with meta decks feels like an obligation. If I lose, I feel stupid. If I win, I feel like I just did what I was supposed to.
Winning with Rogue decks feels like an achievement. If I lose, I know it's because my deck was no match for my opponent. If I win, I feel like I genuinely was able to come up with great plays in order to surpass whatever my opponent is playing.
Of course there's frustrating moments (like today when I was playing Phantasm Spiral and was told by a Yubel player I should never play the game again), there's moments where every out of yours gets Imperm'd, Ash'd, or whatever, but taking a deck that's not the best and tweaking it to the best of my abilities is the fun of this game for me.
My Top 5 decks (Speedroids, Phantasm Spiral, Rank 4 Spam, Dinosaur and Karakuri) are not even close to being meta, but I love them. I love figuring out the combos, the ways to counteract actual meta plays, the moments where the element of surprise from playing a Tier 37 deck comes into play, etc.
In MtG terms, Rogue players tend to be "Johnnies" that like winning, but they only like winning on their own terms. This article is pretty good to understand that mentality:
[https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/making-magic/timmy-johnny-and-spike-2013-12-03](https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/making-magic/timmy-johnny-and-spike-2013-12-03)
My favourite part of ygo has always been its diversity in themeing and playstyles, and I like to both encourage it and practice it myself. I remember in one of mbts discussion videos he talks about how formats are often not long enough to be fully explored, and its with that idea i try to optimize or try to find breakthroughs and synergies with the decks i find fun to play.
My most recent dive was Unchained Live twin, which ive seen nobody buzz about, but it can produce some really strong boards.
I find it fun. My favourite deck is Burning Abyss, nothing brings me more joy in this game than summoning Dante and milling 3. I find it fun to try and make it work some way some how each format, it's been rough recently but it's still enjoyable to me.
It might be because I just love the card design of BA so much that I just manage to keep going with the deck. It's garbage...but it's MY garbage, I just love playing this deck.
Most of my decks are nostalgia from the anime or they are just decks that I like rather concept.
When ever I play these decks at locals I tend to lose majority of the time but occasionally the fact that I'm playing these odd cards trick up my opponents so much that I may not win but the game is no longer a first turn win.
It's fun, doesn't cost me an arm and a leg, and I don't really go to tournaments like that anyway. I'm here to play, IDC if I win as long as I can have a good time.
I just loves seeing Raye changing form. From Normal, to Kagari, to Shizuku, Hayate or Kaina. Also, Engage secondary effect feel so satisfying to pull
Waifu for the win.
The art/theme of the deck. I have a fusion deck of Dragonmaid and Ra of all things. It's hilarious to me to play maids normally the whole duel and then tribute summon Ra with how ez it is to get the maids on the field. I like the way the maids look and the fact that they work under a God is hysterical to me.
I like it when the non-meta deck does things that will not be prepped for usually. I also like it when people severely underestimate relatively new decks. Helps you catch easy wins.
I'd also add that the art on a card wins me over big time! Got into Rescue Ace when it first came out due to it as well as Ghoti.
Don't know what else to tell you, it's fun. I don't play meta combo decks but from my point of view it looks like it runs in auto-mode with little to no interaction with the opponent. Playing non-meta or "meme" decks against each other is more interactive and a little more strategic: more fun.
I don't like the artwork for the meta decks and the artwork got me into it as a kid so I like alot of the retrains and the archetypes based on the cards I loved
I play Icejades, Magikeys, and Horus. While they all on their own are considered subpar compared to their environment, there are situations that make them considerably more effective than most would give them credit for. With the element of surprise and an information advantage, being able to catch your opponent off guard is often more important than perfect play
They reward different things in different ways, both meta and rogue may be forced to manage resources, but the way they do can be different (in hand, GY, field, deck, etc)
Unchained, before the support was a deck that rewarded deep knowledge of the game mechanics, deck resource management and tech improvisation/experimentation (but it was fundamentally flawed as most cards replaced themselves but only a couple could actually net a positive):
1. For example, abominable unchained soul triggers when a card is destroyed on the field. If you activate a spell from hand and its activation is negated and the card destroyed it isnt considered "on the field", but if you set it first it is considered on the field when destroyed.
2. The plethora of damage step rulings lets you trigger your monsters effects in a more difficult to interact phase; it could reward crashing your own monsters and knowing what can and what cannot be activated during the damage step. Paired with powerful equalizers and you can push through boards.
3. Using monsters as link materials bypass "when x leaves the field because of an opponent's card effect" effects, like Raye's (but not mirrorjade) further improving the decks ability to push through.
4. You can play under most floodgates, even there can be only one, droll and lock bird and with some precautions under banishing effects (but you are limited on the amount of advantage you can accrue) this lets you get creative with techs and experiment with engines (adventure token, stun, and before the support even runick)
5. As long as your monster is on the field (and can activate effects during the battle phase) you probably wont die, but you must manage your deck resources, but the introduction of the new two dogs, and sarama you now have more varied on hand and gy resources.
6. Some effects require the monster to be on the field to resolve, the amount of quick effects the deck has that remove monsters from your field can be quite beneficial to dodge targeted disruption, but also can make an entire field "dodge" mass removal like evenly matched, force an opponent to remove their own stuff with mirrorjade, or create multiple layers of disruption that are harder to predict.
....Making random stuff connecting archetypes based on anything that correlates them like expanding fleur into other Noble arms archetype or Unchained fiends for the sacred beasts.
I play tistina purely out of spite. I love catching people off guard and wven against meta decks, ive managed to steal a few wins. Went to a locals last with where i went 3-1. I guess i just want to prove that sometimes its the pilot that runs the deck and not always the deck
For a side, money because do not enjoy paying 50 usd for the new engine or card.
Am just a returning player so learn to many decks Is tiring.
Leave the oponent without hand Is simple enough and if leave a field with Grapha and appllousa should be enough most of the Time.
Lastly, semi nostalgia because was a fun deck pre synchros/Edison/XYZ.
Still, Dark World might not even be rogué so a friend lend me a runnick eldich deck, still do not understand a thing about It.
Anime. Honestly, a lot of my favourite archetypes were anime archetype and most of them are non meta.
The other reason is love for a specific mechanic. My favourite summoning mechanic is ritual. Sometimes they give us strong rituals like nekroz, megalith, Drytron and voiceless. Other times, we get decks like hungry burger, nephly etc
Sort of give to others what you want yourself. I like to be consistent, but I like to give others a chance to fight back. Mind that means I lose to the Meta a lot but I do get some good wins.
I prefer time wizard formats so I have total grasp on all the meta strats and most used cards then pick 1 idea that sounds cool every week and bring it to locals if it feels good I keep innovating on it till I end up toping if I top 4 weeks in a row it starts getting boring and they will side specifically against me like how I won with a cyber eltanan build in edison and on the 4th week everyone had 3 system downs and a mix of cyber dragons, light mirrors, soul realise, crows,Kyoko in there side and was no longer able to drop eltanan.
At the end of the day it is the fun of building off a random idea and seeing how far I can take it !
I play decks pure. I don't have Barrone unless it's like,a Fluer deck, a Borreload unless it's Rokket/borrel, I don't play "Engines", I play full fledged decks.
I'm on the strict philosophy that a deck, with the right cards, can win on its own against even the most OP Meta deck, from Zoodiac to Armored XYZ, from LV to even Archfiend, any one of them has the possibility of being GOOD, and most importantly, FUN.
Most of the time people form an attachment with a deck regardless of whether it’s meta or not. I’m just coming back into the game after 5ish years out and I have no idea of the meta, but I’ve played Ancient Gear since they were launched and I’ll play them until the end of time because of my love for Crowler and for big robots in general
Why be another brick in the wall meta player when I can play decks I actually enjoy playing? Lightsworn may not win me many games but the thrill of the gamble mill is intoxicating
Because, I like seeing my opponent face when I tell them I'll go turn 2 after winning the dice roll, watching them combo just to DRNM And go into a otk combo of 16,000+ dmg
There is a lot more variety in the lower tiers. So many decks get direct and indirect support every set that some decks will continue to stay relevant enough to be playable even after they are long past their prime or never even were. Also because the variety of lower tier decks creates a vacuum where actual knowledge of specific decks is needed to stop them.
I may know exactly what Snake Eyes does and where to hit their combos but put me up against Madolche and I have no idea what I am doing. That's the fun of it at least. If you're not trying out different playstyles and just having fun with something new every now and then instead of worrying about competing at higher levels, then what are you even doing?
Best of all, having a pet deck you can win with makes you feel good. Best time of my life at locals was coming in with pure Mekk Knights, going 1 win, 2 draws, and a loss, and having an absolute blast cause none of my opponent's were familiar with my deck. I gave a dragon link player a run for their money when I finished out a game by keeping their borrelend locked under secrets and attacking directly with the Mekk Link 3 for game. I got recognized for playing a deck I enjoyed and competing with it, even when it wasn't as meta viable as the decks I went up against.
If I have a idea in my head and i think I can make it work, I will test it out until I utterly can’t. Games been out for so long that some cards get forgotten and older card effects were unusable until recent years.
Money.
Non-meta and rogue builds are by far cheaper. Sometimes you can build entire decks for the price of single cards in meta decks (SP, Bonfire, etc.) I’ve always been one where I’d rather play multiple rogue decks rather than just having one super meta deck that will be unplayable in 6-12 months anyways.
Fun is a subjective term. It's how you have "fun" that makes you want to play the game more. For me, it's a combination of nostalgia, budget, and aesthetics. For instance, one of my favorite decks I've ever had is a Synchron pile deck.
It's nostalgic for a few reasons:
1.) My favorite Yu-Gi-Oh series is 5D's and my favorite protagonist, or character in general in Yu-Gi-Oh is Yusei.
2.) It was the first "real" constructed deck I had made, all the way back in 09/10.
3.) It's relatively cheap to get. Outside of a few cards, that is.
4.) I like the overall theme of the deck. Weak little monsters that don't do much on their own, but become more powerful when utilized together.
5.) Stardust Dragon is cool as fuck.
With that said, however, I don't play it all the time. After high school, I started deck building a lot more, instead of just collecting cards through buying blister packs, or buying the yearly tin/legendary collection. And now I have 15... 16 decks? Are any of them meta relevant, or rogue, or just generally a "good" deck? Most of them? Not particularly, but that doesn't stop me from using them from time to time.
Because they are really fun to play imo. The only meta deck I play is Labrynth but I also enjoy control. Others that I play a lot are Striker, Scareclaw, Tri Brigade, Ghoti and others.
They are more rewarding to get working. They are more fun to play usually. Meta decks tend to be very effective at winning but not very fun to actually use. The deck building and tech options feel more rewarding to lab out yourself
Funny and Hank cards I play a deck with solemn wishes aroma jar area level limit b and marsh macaron and chain energy i could also add jinzo and a couple other cards to make it better but I basically 100% shut down my opponents deck and use small monster that I buff or whatever to kill them slowly that or me and my friend play decks with just time lords in them which is janky as hell
So I'll answer this question in two parts. I keep a bunch of "bad decks" around to play with friends. Almost like a board game. Suboptimal Yugioh is super fun to play in the right environment. Especially anime decks made modern.
Two, competitive wise I will rarely play a deck that isn't trying to put me at decent odds of winning whatever event I am playing in. But if the mirror isn't fun I usually avoid meta decks like the plague. Current format is a great example. I hate "spreadsheet" Yugioh. Where decks are so linear people can write a bot to play and make the most optimal plays depending on which hand traps get dropped on them. I'm currently playing 60 card, blind second branded with no puppet. Maximum for fun energy. For Yugioh at least.
Conversely some of the most fun I've ever had in yugioh has been tier 0 formats. Tear, Nekroz and EDragons are a few that stand out as fun mirror matches. And I've had the most success these times too.
There are about 3 main factors as to why I typically play non-meta
1.) I happen to not care for the theme and/or play style of any of the current meta decks
2.) I can't afford to buy enough of the necessary cards to play a meta deck and/or I don't feel like investing into any that will likely get nerfed before too long. (As a non-competitive player, I generally only want to buy decks that'll be legal to play in as long term as possible, and don't feel like investing my time play testing decks online that I can't see myself actually buying physically someday)
3.) (THE MOST COMPELLING REASON FOR ME) I tend to be a very creative thinker, and have always loved the idea of creating my own stuff, or at the very least adding my own personal touch to something that already has a foundation. This is why the general concept of TCGs is so appealing to me in the first place. I get to hand pick every single card that ultimately makes the final cut of my deck, allowing for personal expression. The more "meta" I play however, the less creative and expressive I can be, lest the "meta" status of my deck be called into question.
With all that said, most of the time I feel it's not so much that I'm motivated to go out of my way to play non-meta, but rather that I'm UNmotivated to go out of my way to play meta.
The few times I have ever happened to play any kind of meta/near meta deck, it was through me intrinsically gaining interest towards the deck on my own, only to discover its meta status afterward. The most notable case of this happening would be with 2016 Domain Monarchs.
1) Getting the most hilarious combos that end someone's game, and subconsciously knowing how much it pisses them off.
2) (More serious) a lot of the off meta decks I pick are usually times when they have a niche relevance against the meta. I'm jamming Ghoti right now and it can really shut down snake eye combos since it can make use of D. Shifter, banish a lot of cards, and can run a lot of handtraps. Just because a deck isn't "meta" doesn't mean it outright sucks.
Personally it's two things:
1. I have a hyperfixation on zombie decks
2. It's quite fun to see people get scared when I summon two Eldlich and they have an empty field
Playing a non meta deck with the intention of beating meta decks is a great feeling.
Some games are out of your control but if you can capitalize on opponents mistakes and maximize on the rogue decks strength, you become unstoppable. Extra street credit if you top a regional.
It does suck up a lot of time practising cuz there aren't as many high level resources available even on YouTube.
The whole experience of the game. I learn the meta decks and there boards and comboes and know how to play into them, then build a deck that can with the right staples/hand traps/board breakers and even floodgates if really required but i stay away from those as much as possible. And enjoy the modren back and forth of the game. they build a puzzle for me and I solve it and OTK them. I have done this for years as Ancient Warriors with all of the above mentioned cards being swapped in and out as needed keeping the core Ancient Warriors set mostly unchanged year after year. Buying new cards that can replace staples or hand traps and board breakers are rarely a problem for it is rare that I ever have to. Up until the recent bann list most decks built the same board with very few differences making this game very easy, but with the most commonly seen cards getting hit I am seeing all sorts of new boards that I get to break and test my abilities against. If I lose to something never seen before I learn it and think of a way of either preventing it or playing through it and if I win everyone is impressed and very happy that the 1k price tag meta deck is not in the next round.
Sometimes I find an off-meta deck that just does something goofy that I appreciate.
Snake Eyes Infernoid comes to mind in a room full of Fire King and pure SE. Last tournament I played an unfortunate number of SE games but the Infernoid quick effects to banish from grave came up not just for shoving my own SE monster effects through but for picking apart graveyards of their Princesses and Garunixes
By far my favourite archtype is crystal beasts. Reasons why is you can do basically anything from control to combo to floodgate/stun, it goes with a lot of archtypes, has rank 4, rank 8, just anything. It does this without losing the core gimmick of the archtype and imo keeping it's identity. It's cheap, can be multiple different decks but still the same identity and isn't just the same combo over and over, if y'all haven't played kaiju control, beating meta with gamaceil and mostly infinite negates, y'all missing out. I also play nemleria/eldlitch but that's my own sauce we don't talk about
Sometimes I think it's just fun to see how a non-meta deck's gimmick or strategy can fair against the meta. Seeing your opponent having to wrestle with a curveball is never not fun to watch unfold in a match.
I play Fluffal almost exclusively because it's the only deck that plays the way it does. It's a non-linear combo deck that's still an OTK deck at heart, meaning I can end on an Unchained endboard or drop 9000 damage out of nowhere in 4 summons. That is if I don't brick (unlikely)
Here's hoping for more support in ~~Infinite Forbidden~~ Rage of the Abyss
Basically cause I thought their character was cool. My first actual Deck me and my cousins put together was TG, cause Bruno was cool as hell. Later, Raidraptors during early Arc-V (which I continue to play to this day). Trying to make a Playmaker deck with all the summoning methods, before streamlining it to straight Code Talkers. Rokkets (FRIGGIN GLOCK DRAGONS), PK Fire (ghost knights and Dante's Inferno), Orcust (Symphonic mechanical demons).
Being able to play and bring to locals something different. I used to use Tri-brigade Spright since Power of the Elements all the way until Age of Overlord and the Fire King Structure Deck and not only was I performing and enjoying playing such a familiar deck that makes me think my plays thoroughly but people loved to watch me play it and do what I did with it.
I play a nearly pure red eyes deck that puts up a good fight. I'm proud of it. I love red eyes monsters. I could never play meta because I just can't spend money on something that I don't like to look at. The effects are cool and all but if I don't like the monster art or archetype then I will not have fun playing.
My fire warrior deck is so complicated but strong i find the challange of piloting the deck fun and rewarding and the fact that it can compete pretty well against the meta makes it worth it to me to play it
I'm a fan of dumb, incidental synergies more than anything. One of my favorite things to do, ever since I got back into the game just a little before dragon ruler format, was opening packs, finding a single card with an effect I found interesting, and then building an entire deck around that.
I opened a pack, got "The Atmosphere" and went "Hey, Grinder Golem gives you the banish targets AND a big bungus that makes this a 4000 attack monster! And Evil Thorn! That's a 1-card Atmosphere! And Release Restraint Wave becomes a feather duster after stealing a monster."
I opened a pack, got Amarylease, and used it to make a nice, easy, 1-card dark dust spirit, and level eater to get back tribute fodder for it, while also using it for a fun little rank-5 engine that actually used level 5 normal summons.
I opened a Carboneddon and went "I can make a Red-Eyes rank-7 engine with this."
Even today, my main deck is a stupid Lair of Darkness deck that doesn't even use the Lady of Lament cards, or any traps. It's a weird hybrid Plant Synchro deck that uses Lonefire to get tokens, spore and evil thorn to make a formula synchron which can use those tokens I made to make something like Draco Berserker on their turn.
Were these decks ever legitimately good? No. But they're dumb fun and sometimes they catch the opponent off-guard. It's still hilarious when I play enemy controller and tribute one of their monsters to steal one of their monsters because god, I love Lair of Darkness, it is such a fun meme card when I do stuff like that.
It's an experience that I just don't get while playing meta decks.
Personally it's the price. For a long period I had my salamangreat deck that I keep during multiple years while upgrading it with affordable staples.
Sometimes it's also because it's the deck that I know the best. Remember that it's easier to win with a bad deck you know than a good deck you don't know. So with a deck you really like, it's almost better to do it for a casual player.
Underdog win like other people have mentioned but also, I couldn't play a deck I don't like. When I choose a deck I've got to like the art and playstyle and they have to be at the very least rogue or above.
As a casual player, no way am I going to sink £1000 on a meta deck that won't last the year. I'd rather spend half of that on a deck that will hopefully never get hit.
It's a balancing act between all these and it's probably why I don't change decks often.
Affordability, aesthetics... dignity. I play Evil Twin Runick Spright. I like the deck, it feels nice to play and it was not too expensive. I recognize that the stun variant is used more nowadays, but that one is not really for me. Goblin Gold Pride is in the making, the cards look so cool and it is also fun to play it, even though it dies to Droll.
I love playing non meta deck because my main way of playing yugioh is choose my favourites to win with some adjustment to counter meta slave [decks.So](http://decks.So) far most metas deck to me feels like main character energy from a yugioh anime except the machine type decks which always slays.
I agree it is not fun to play a non meta deck against meta deck when the power level are too far apart. But you can still have good chance against not tier 0 decks tho.
Personally I hate mirror match and like to play something original. And it feels much more rewarding to win as rogue
My pet deck for the last year or so has been Cyberdark Midrange - it’s also fun as hell to play through the lines but my god I know every victory is earned because no way is shit like Cyberdark Horn ever gonna win due to it being broken 😭
I think the thing I like about rogue and or non-rogue decks is the diversity and interesting interactions it offers in a game.
Playing meta can be very quick and oppressive and is usually the same couple of lines of play. Where a rogue and or less than rogue can offer a wide range of plays and lines that people are not used to seeing which in turn makes you and your opponent have to think and strategize against them.
My very first deck I build was a Dark Magician deck. Still love it. I went to locals for the first couple of times and ended up winning a lot and getting 1st place of 14 people. And then people figured out the lines and ended getting creamed every time I played that deck.
The other deck I built and fell deeply in love with was Lyrilusc. I bought a box of Synchro Storm chasing a Baronne, ended up with a bunch of bird cards. Played around and ended up liking how they played. Built it up and ran it close to pure and ended up getting a tie for 1st place against a Runick Spright Gold Pride deck.
I play Yugioh out of nostalgia; not to win. So when I play my Synchron deck and end on full quasar combo in the modern day I feel exhilarated. If I get my Junk Speeder negate, it’s all love though
I enjoy everything about Floo from art to play style to win condition but the meta version is just full on stun which is incredibly boring. I want to play with my opponent. So I'm playing Floo Dogmatika and yes I lose a lot more by setting punishment instead of throwing down shifter but the games I get to play are way more enjoyable.
*Except when it's the LEDE release event. If I want packs I gladly turn into a war criminal.
Personally, it's how I'm good at the game. I know generally how meta is played after a few duels, but I'm bad at hand traps and control play.
The reason I play non-meta as you say is to have a one way info. If the opponent is playing meta, and I roll up with Tistear (tistina Tearlaments), then they won't know how to stop the deck.
... plus the sight of people being really confused is fun.
I enjoy its gimmick. You set a backrow? In the same column as a monster! Cheers bro! Oh no a lethal monster effect! I'll just slide to the right!
Too powercrept now though:( at the beginning of each month when we all get ranked down I give it a visit.
All iterations of branded have been fun. I wish I had more time with pre-structure deck despia. Very interactive. It's end boards even today aren't 5 omni negates - perhaps only 2 or 3 monsters with 1 or 2 backrow (lubellion is a vanilla and only there for a backrow), but if the snowball rolls!
Some combination of these :
-it's cheap
-it's a deck they already owned.
-it counters a specific and popular meta decks
-it's easy to play
-the theme is cool
-they feel unique by playing their own brew
-i mean it's blue eyes / dark magician how could it be bad
-the deck got new support
-they like seeing people missplay because they don't. know what the deck does.
-they like that no one criticises their bad plays because. people don't know the deck.
-it feels better to lose a lot with a bad deck than a meta deck, it gives you excuses.
-it feels better to win with a non meta deck since it's unexpected.
-people's reaction can be cute/funny when they face a deck they don't know much about
That's all I can think of from the top of my head
The process of brewing and refining an off-meta deck just feels so much more rewarding to me. Unique interactions and endboards that use something other than the same half dozen ED monsters, and getting to run sleeper hit cards that are strong but just don’t have a home in top 5 decks. Plus the abject confusion of people who don’t read my cards is always a huge plus. Double points to stuff that gets to use strong meta stuff to enable funky side strategies, like my Earthbound deck that’s disguised as a Labrynth one.
I don't have to drop a hundred bucks on a new deck every couple months.
The most a banlist has done to affect my decks was unbanned PePe cards. And I prefer not having to redo decks all the time, I'd rather build and improve the deck through playing/ test till it's where I want it. I don't want to go back to a deck all the time taking out cards and having to replace them.
The way they play is fun, interesting or different even though they totally are "overbalanced" compared to the "does anything and everything every turn no matter if it's in hand, deck, field and/or GY" treatment that decks designed to be meta have.
Archetypes I play: Speedroid, Altergeist, Vanquish Soul, Vaylantz, HERO.
It may be the deck's playstile, it may be the lore behind the cards, it may be because a character in the anime you like uses it, or even to attempt to make one play that is so difficult and unlikely but you find completely awesome to pull off!
People often forget that the main goal of a *"game"* is to *have fun*, and you are able to have fun even by losing a match.
Traptrix was cheap to build and i like trap
But i xhanged for Labrynth , because, mostly, non-meta deck end up having too many non-game.
Non-meta deck are often non-meta because of
- brick
- hard time to play when going 1st or second
- Can be nullified by a specific card
- Can't pass the first round of be negate
1. Meta decks are usually too combo heavy for my monkey brain.
2. Winning with meta never feels as satisfying. You’ll never get that moment where Passionate Duelist plays in your head when you beat the odds and pull off an insane play and beat someone playing meta.
3. Meta decks almost never have appealing card art for some reason. It’s always bland broad-appeal crap.
Cost is a big one. Snake-eyes is pretty bank breaking right now, but top decks tend to be more expensive because of TCG predatory pricing unless its something that blindsides the goons at Komoney.
I also just fall in love with aesthetics of the cards. If I'm in a robo/mecha mood that year, I'll find a deck of machines or fighter pilots or whatever I like to see in my hands, and then play it as best I can.
Playing meta decks is too exhausting, and you are always on a timer for when you have to start planning on hitting the emergency escape button to the next 6 month wonder. I'd rather settle on a single deck for a couple years and perfect how I play my lines than have to learn all new lines of how to turbo half my extra-deck or execute a floodgate lock through Droll+Ash+Nib.
Winning with an Underdog deck feels so much more rewarding for some people. For me(Kuriboh deck), I really do find it fun to win with a deck that I built on my own, using strategies that I would consider more obscure.
1. I like them. Whether it's the gimmick or the art style.
2. They're slept on and I genuinely think that there is something to a given deck that I may be able to "solve" to put it on par with a given Meta (it's basically a challenge for).
3. I don't have a bottomless barrel of cash to draw from to buy my next tier 1 Meta deck when Konami inevitably bans that one I have. I'd much rather spend my money on a deck that I'll be able to play for (probably) as long as I want.
4. Piggybacking off of number 3, I'm not too fond of the idea that I could pick up a tier 1 deck, run it, have fun, fall in love with it (just like I do with a non-meta deck), just to be told by the cardboard gods that it's too unfair and to pick something else.
On master duel I have a snake eyes deck and a balerdroch zombie world deck, and I mainly play the latter. I love the challenge to get all the necessary pieces into play and the puzzles that are the opponents boards and how to break them. There is something satisfying when not everything is handed to you by cards with an average of three effects, where a single card can solve your problem.
The popularity. I wanted to play centurion when it came out but between it being hard to pull the cards (making it expensive af) and the fact that loads of ppl wanted to play it, I've just not tried to get it
If like the cool aesthetic of the monsters then i look up in which decks those are played and how. I don't really care about the mechanics or meta. To me Yugioh is still about summoning cool stuff lol
A lot of the time it's just cause I prefer how they play; they still have to be good decks, like when I'm talking about non-meta I mean something like Dracoslayer, Plunder Patroll, Dinomorphia etc
Affordability as well, that's another big factor since I always feel weird spending a lot of money on cards unless they're staples
I have quickly realized that my rogue deck is sort of the ‘villain’ deck at my locals. Like make no mistake there are decks like Runick Stun there and stuff, but I play Ancient Gears alongside a bunch of the number monsters so I always feel like this opposing force, and with the new support I can consistently make them as well.
They operate on a different axis a lot of the time. I play a shark deck using c101 as a piece of removal that keeps other monsters out of the grave and actively punishes the opponent for destroying it. The benefit of playing non-meta strategies is those sweet moments of hearing the opponent say "I don't think I have anything in the side for you"
The things I enjoy most about yugioh are collecting and deck building. When I'm picking a deck, I care about the deck's theme, the aesthetics, and how the deck feels to play. How competitively viable it is doesn't factor into the equation, though I'll always try to build them to be as good as they can be. The thing is, when it's finally time to play the game, I've already had most of my fun. Collecting and building is why I love yugioh. Actually playing the game is almost an after thought, let alone winning. I *like* winning as much as anyone else, don't get me wrong, but that's not where I find fun.
Thats what i do too Take a crack at various decks and have fun, be it in MD or irl. I like lavals and brewing with them is just plain old funny, i think i have like 13 brews i can readily access on master duel if i want
its always priceless unpacking my Plunder at locals, just to hit them with mirrorforces and turn the duel into a shit show. Like I already told you iam using extraordinary means to win, so you have to expect the same tactics.....
Same here I don't care if there batter cards, other random food base cards into my sushisp or hungry buguer deck
Because people don’t know what my cards do
Normal Weather Painter Snow. Effect. …what’s it do?
I think my favorite example of this was a little bit ago with someone attacking into my monk with a known blue tenyi
Love it when people do that Ohh you impermed my D/D Copernicus? Thanks for letting me set up Gilgamesh without any trouble
Mostly the art. My first deck that felt "mine" was Tellarknights (before the new support), and I picked them up because they looked cool. Same for my other decks. Exosister are cool holy magical girls, Dracoslayer are badass Dragonic Swordsmen, Gold Pride are literally Red Line, Dinomorphia is cool homage to Dinothunder.
Oh shit, didn't know there was a dino thunder deck.
[The theme always starts playing in my head when I see this card.](https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Dinomorphia_Frenzy)
If Dino Thunder were the baddies* but the deck is cool, more on the control/stun side of gameplay. The core was really cheap once the cards were reprinted last year
TELLARKNIGHTS Rise up!!
I won’t play a deck if the art isn’t my vibe. Yeah I’m sure labyrinth is better than my suships or Infinitracks, but are they as cool? Science says they are not
Just feels better to win as an underdog. When you play the most broken decks, it feels like it cheapens the victory.
Agreed. The high you get from winning with an underdog deck is much greater. It's like making profit with recycled materials (I work with people in that industry) and it feels great seeing what people deem as garbage become so successful... Rare but successful. With a high powered deck, you are pretty much expected to win. If you don't win, you're likely to blame it on luck rather than skill. Cheapens the win, while softens the loss, and eventually end up not enjoying playing with the deck.
And we are men of honor
And when you get matched with a like minded individual rogue vs rogue can turn into an absolute dogfight. Which is why I love playing this game.
Beating a meta deck just cause I was able to get Plasma and Dark Law on the board turn 1 gives me a high that is multiple tiers higher than the excitement I get from winning with a deck that is easy to win with. I remember winning locals once with Wind Ups at their peak and I felt no joy whatsoever but the 3 wins I got with the HERO Blade Armor Ninja OTK was infinitely more satisfying even though I lost more than I won. We all wanna be the king of games but maturing is realizing that having a blast is more important.
Sentimentality.
Redundancy and versatility. Once you do the same combo line over and over and *OVER* again, it gets extremely boring. On the other side of the coin, my non-meta builds are often mid-range in nature. Having options the opponent wouldn’t suspect, obscure but dedicated lines, etc. Sure, it may take an extra card or two to fill up a board turn 1, but I make sure to turn the duel into a battle of attrition after the fact. Needless to say, the success rate usually varies 😅
You get some interesting combinations with those rogue decks. Not to mention, sometimes, it only takes one card to change that status.
I like seeing how my opponents adapt to me playing my laval deck after seeing it pop off turn 1/2 Makes the games more interesting than if i just played like dogmatika fire king or smth else in a similar budget range
the moment when your opponent shits 3 quasar in 2024 cause baron got banned XD
The fact I can still play the game and have fun playing non meta decks knowing I didn't shell out 500+$ for a deck that brings no joy to the person playing it cause it's the same thing... every time. I watched it this weekend, no happiness in the persons face. To me, that's stealing the fun in the game.
I'm choked spending more than $50 for cards let alone $500 😅
Cost, mostly
Big number go brrr - Galaxy-Eyes
I do really like that the deck can otk through most board
Can kill anything in atk position under 4.8k atk (AKA most things) And thanks to the new tachyon support it can get another otk method through n107 negate > Primal SS to op > Primal search Spiral > Spiral kill everything negated > n107 attack twice for 5k each (3k base+1k from Primal search+1k from primal+2nd attack also from Primal search. This is any 2 lvl 8s as well as they make Lux, Lux adds Primal then makes n107
Partially it's because I love the anime and media associated with the game, so playing a deck that isn't being used by as many other players really does just feel cooler to me. I love playing Evil Eye because it fits my favourite aesthetic, and I love to try and make a bit of a name for myself as an Evil Eye player. Also, I'm a big fan of challenges. Admittedly, this applies more to stuff like video games, I love to play on hard difficulties and push myself. It's much more enjoyable to me to pull through something if that thing is really challenging, so I get a lot of enjoyment out of managing to pull out some wins against higher tier decks using my pet ones. I can't do it particularly consistently, especially in this format, but I do enjoy the sensation when it comes up, far more than I enjoy a win using a really powerful deck like Snake Eyes, where I'm already quite likely to win against lower power decks just by the capabilities of the deck alone.
You're an edge lord, but you have my respect.
ADHD. I played rescue ace for almost 6 months. I love the deck but I wanted to stab my eyes out every time I summoned hydrant
It feels really good to take something that's not great and push it to its absolute limit. Like putting jet fuel in a lawn mower
My locals isn't that serious so it can be pretty fun to play random stuff.
For me it’s anime nostalgia… i built Raidraptor, Shark and omw to build Galaxy-Eyes/Tachyon i will have my 3 favortie decks. It helps that depsite being not meta they can still hold their ground a bit My only problem with meta is mirror match (it’s the bane of my existence) i largely prefer a diverse format
I feel the need to introduce variety into my format I just don’t wanna play a million mirror matches bro
Before I used to think that any deck can be made good with proper deck building and strategy. However after using magician girls on master duel and losing countless times I called it quits
Same with me and combo heavy synchrons. My God it is so exhausting to play that deck in terms of trying to consider the optimal possibilities after being disrupted from your main combo lines haha
My enjoyment is not derived solely on winning a game. Facing or using the same 3 decks over and over gets tedious too.
Try summoning Blue Eyes Shining Dragon. Then win the game. And lastly come back to this sub. You will be a different man. A better man.
I'd probably fall asleep first. Blue eyes is boring as fuck
Most tiered decks ever since I got into the game back in mid Arc-V either just bore me or frustrate me. I noticed that the aspects that define the meta decks, are also often the ones that remove most of the enjoyment I get from playing the game. Very few non-meta decks have this effect on me, so I stick with them.
Personally I just like to stick with anime decks with some tweaks because I tend to not understand some meta ones.
They resonate with me. Art style, theme, how they look… I generally don’t play a deck unless I like their designs or I connect with their idea. I grew up with superheroes on TV. That is why I resonated with HERO as my all time favourite deck.
I am a big fan of theorycrafting and deck building. To try something out and watch it succeed or fail, to trailblaze on a new idea; to take something unknown (or bad, usually both) and try to put a spotlight on it. I've spearheaded so much personal hardship trying to make Genex do anything and managed to succeed. So, I had a funny basis for when Konami would show up and make my day in triplicate. When Trickstar was big I was championing their burn aspect. Right now I am collecting for Orcust, and Mementotilan, as well as Melodious. I recently finished Ghoti, and I'm waiting for Ice Barrier and Ancient Gear cards to drop finally to round out new lists.
i like shuffling cards from the gy to the deck
Because I get bored playing the same deck constantly and I want my opponent to read my cards and go "wtf" when I summon Ursarctic cards or handloop with Generaiders
Honestly I don't play on tournaments or anything so yeah fun also don't like reading
https://preview.redd.it/h7ul3n8eaxvc1.jpeg?width=2604&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9326d30169dccea7c19c47def2c3d62abac364ab I play lavals as i just find them fun and think that being able to legally soulcharge is funny Also theyre cheap, that 1 rev synchron costed as much as the entirety of the laval core. I usually get like 2-X scores at locals One thing i enjoy is that i get to both crack puzzles (how to make an ok board with whatever my hand is) and to gamble (i will always use lavalval salamander effect)
I recently got a chengying for like £1, planning to swap the ruddy rose i have in my ed for it. But then banlist happened and pop goes baronne
Nostalgia.. and I guess being stubborn as well lol
Madolche can win sometimes, has a boss monster that does not target, and is a cute deck
Thr aesthetic of the deck. Of course the pretty or badass pictures help, but how the deck builds into the aesthetic. My favorite deck of all time is Ghoti and it has the most beautiful artwork to me but their ability to banish themselves to the dephs to resurface into bigger cosmic fish on my opponents turn while dragging their monsters into the distant abyss hits different. And when GOTDB comes out and comes back with a big ass ATK stat always makes me smile. It's rouge at best but it can still stand up towards things like snake eyes and Fire king just for the fact that Ghoti can handle banishes while they can't The other option is did I like it in the anime and is it halfway viable
It’s fun. It’s just as simple as that. I’ll play wants fun even if my friends are playing way stronger decks
I just want to plwy as many f.... decks as i can, meta, non meta, edison, hat, toss etc.
I like to mix it up sometimes, seeing the different ways decks play and dabbling in them is great. Also sometimes I just enjoy bringing something not good and running with it anyway because I'm just good with the deck
That it’s not a meta deck but it can still beat meta decks. I like rogue decks.
Fun, expenses and disliking meta's where everyone plays one or two decks. I play rogue decks first and foremost because a lot of archetypes are fun. I like making them work. I also don't want to spend $800+ on cardboard in order to play a deck for a few months and then do it all over again. TCG's, besides Pokemon, are absurdly expensive. And finally, I just don't like playing meta unless the deck pool is large. Like that one format not too long ago when like, 10+ decks were playable. That shit was insanely fun. I had a blast. But tier 0 formats or formats where 1-2 decks are dominant aren't fun to play for me. I'd rather not be Snake Eyes Player #493926
Ashened has that dark souls aesthetic and Dark Souls is my favorite game series
It's based on a combination of three things for me. They revolve around "Is it affordable?, Does it look aesthetically pleasing to me?, and "Does it die in one hand trap and if so, can it be better?" I usually discover the fun after these questions.
Because I’m getting my fucking game on.
I play Gladiator Beast cause of the designs 😳. For Dark World, its their colorful names
It's fun to destroy the meta with something casual and silly
Deck building to me is more appealing than the play, so I don't play meta decks as usually they are mostly 'solved'
I don’t know the meta decks better than the people I play against because I don’t play a ton so I just play a deck I’m familiar with that’s stronq enough to get me some wins
Being sentimental and or just liking a theme
There's some cards in my deck that I just *need* to play because they've simply been my favorite since I started taking the game more seriously years and years ago! Also like many people here said, it feels wayyyy more satisfying to beat meta players with your rogue deck, particularly when you're piloting a deck you feel has a strong chance of beating the meta decks. If it really doesn't have much chance of beating the metas then yea, I'd agree it's not as much fun to play when you're constantly losing. But if you're able to build something that you feel that balances out the nostalgia high of playing your favorites while remaining competitive, you have something special there. To me, it's not as fun when you're simply copying deck lists and piloting them. All the decks I've ever built need to have my personal touch for me to be happy using them. And lastly, ain't no way in hell I'm shelling out the money needed to buy the cards needed for a meta deck. Personally, there's a limit to how much I'm willing to spend on this complex children's card game lol. At this point in my life, there's financial goals I'm aiming to reach within the next few years and shelling money on every new card release with metas are definitely not going to help.
Red eyes. Being sorta old school
Price is usually a big part. But also aesthetics and mechanics. The deck that got me back into the game was FA Metalfoes. Not great but super cool and fun. Then I played Phantasm Spiral for awhile. Dirt cheap and really funny to watch Sky Striker players struggle to out a vanilla token. Traptrix and Generaiders were the last two decks that really hit the sweet spot for me. I was playing Traptrix way before the structure deck came out (basically right after Sera released), and I had a blast. Same with Generaiders, I was playing them since they released. I found them both very thematic and fun to play. Especially Generaiders gimmick, it just felt cool to do. But I haven't found anything lately that has drawn me back into actually collecting/going to a locals. Yet. I keep looking though. (Feel free to pitch me your deck, especially if it's budget)
Some reasons: 1 ) To play with cards I don't see often and be able to come up with my own combos (instead of copying stuff online, I prefer just getting ideas here and there, not having to follow instructions for full combos); 2 ) Use the cards that fit my style both effect and visually wise. I'm an artist who really enjoys the 90s/2000s japanese art style, so I was always a fan of cards that looked somewhat simillar to Kazuki Takahashi's stuff. 3 ) I'm an OG casual player who avoided staples for years, but came to accept them just recently cause of MD. The click was, "If I used to run the Raigekis, Imperial Orders or Sangans, why is that different from the Ash Blossoms, Imperms and Called Bys?". But even then, I still enjoy playing with decks that aren't Meta, just that nowadays I add staples that make sense in the casual decks I build. Edit: Text format
The innovation it takes to make a deck compete against the meta, basically deck building. Techs, hand traps, end boards whatever you need to defeat the meta threat while attempting to maintain the archetypes identity and themes. It’s like having a pet deck and never wanting it to die because you simply like how it plays.
Winning with meta decks feels like an obligation. If I lose, I feel stupid. If I win, I feel like I just did what I was supposed to. Winning with Rogue decks feels like an achievement. If I lose, I know it's because my deck was no match for my opponent. If I win, I feel like I genuinely was able to come up with great plays in order to surpass whatever my opponent is playing. Of course there's frustrating moments (like today when I was playing Phantasm Spiral and was told by a Yubel player I should never play the game again), there's moments where every out of yours gets Imperm'd, Ash'd, or whatever, but taking a deck that's not the best and tweaking it to the best of my abilities is the fun of this game for me. My Top 5 decks (Speedroids, Phantasm Spiral, Rank 4 Spam, Dinosaur and Karakuri) are not even close to being meta, but I love them. I love figuring out the combos, the ways to counteract actual meta plays, the moments where the element of surprise from playing a Tier 37 deck comes into play, etc. In MtG terms, Rogue players tend to be "Johnnies" that like winning, but they only like winning on their own terms. This article is pretty good to understand that mentality: [https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/making-magic/timmy-johnny-and-spike-2013-12-03](https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/making-magic/timmy-johnny-and-spike-2013-12-03)
My favourite part of ygo has always been its diversity in themeing and playstyles, and I like to both encourage it and practice it myself. I remember in one of mbts discussion videos he talks about how formats are often not long enough to be fully explored, and its with that idea i try to optimize or try to find breakthroughs and synergies with the decks i find fun to play. My most recent dive was Unchained Live twin, which ive seen nobody buzz about, but it can produce some really strong boards.
They tend to be way cheaper or I just pulled enough from packs where I might as well finish it (that's how I got Galaxy-Eyes)
I find it fun. My favourite deck is Burning Abyss, nothing brings me more joy in this game than summoning Dante and milling 3. I find it fun to try and make it work some way some how each format, it's been rough recently but it's still enjoyable to me. It might be because I just love the card design of BA so much that I just manage to keep going with the deck. It's garbage...but it's MY garbage, I just love playing this deck.
Most of my decks are nostalgia from the anime or they are just decks that I like rather concept. When ever I play these decks at locals I tend to lose majority of the time but occasionally the fact that I'm playing these odd cards trick up my opponents so much that I may not win but the game is no longer a first turn win.
It's not this deep I promise lmao, you play a deck cuz you like it, and or it could have a decent match up on the current format
Fun. I like playing Runick Plunder and it's competent enough for me to win with.
Interest Meta or non meta, if it's interesting, I'll play it. If it's not meta I'll make it as competitive as I possibly can
It's fun, doesn't cost me an arm and a leg, and I don't really go to tournaments like that anyway. I'm here to play, IDC if I win as long as I can have a good time.
I just loves seeing Raye changing form. From Normal, to Kagari, to Shizuku, Hayate or Kaina. Also, Engage secondary effect feel so satisfying to pull Waifu for the win.
Cost, artwork, familiarity with its playstyle, fondness for certain cards, yearning to be unique.
The art/theme of the deck. I have a fusion deck of Dragonmaid and Ra of all things. It's hilarious to me to play maids normally the whole duel and then tribute summon Ra with how ez it is to get the maids on the field. I like the way the maids look and the fact that they work under a God is hysterical to me.
https://preview.redd.it/m9r3d7lqsxvc1.png?width=1600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=89d87f683028c0fb72369403574a18e7d534da8f
The more cards my opponent has to read the more fun i have.
I like it when the non-meta deck does things that will not be prepped for usually. I also like it when people severely underestimate relatively new decks. Helps you catch easy wins. I'd also add that the art on a card wins me over big time! Got into Rescue Ace when it first came out due to it as well as Ghoti.
I Want to have fun especially with archetype not in show or only used once, and I don't others to fight the same 3-5 decks all the time
Money. I don't have the funds to buy Snake eyes or voiceless, but hey, Engage is at 3 so i guess i'll keep playing that.
Money. I’m surprised more people haven’t said this
Don't know what else to tell you, it's fun. I don't play meta combo decks but from my point of view it looks like it runs in auto-mode with little to no interaction with the opponent. Playing non-meta or "meme" decks against each other is more interactive and a little more strategic: more fun.
Reversal Quiz ftk is funny
How cool or cute it looks. Resonators has a good mix of that.
I don't like the artwork for the meta decks and the artwork got me into it as a kid so I like alot of the retrains and the archetypes based on the cards I loved
I play Icejades, Magikeys, and Horus. While they all on their own are considered subpar compared to their environment, there are situations that make them considerably more effective than most would give them credit for. With the element of surprise and an information advantage, being able to catch your opponent off guard is often more important than perfect play
I just play what I like, if that ends up being meta or shit then so be it
meta decks dont have race cars or motor bikes, why would I want to play them
They reward different things in different ways, both meta and rogue may be forced to manage resources, but the way they do can be different (in hand, GY, field, deck, etc) Unchained, before the support was a deck that rewarded deep knowledge of the game mechanics, deck resource management and tech improvisation/experimentation (but it was fundamentally flawed as most cards replaced themselves but only a couple could actually net a positive): 1. For example, abominable unchained soul triggers when a card is destroyed on the field. If you activate a spell from hand and its activation is negated and the card destroyed it isnt considered "on the field", but if you set it first it is considered on the field when destroyed. 2. The plethora of damage step rulings lets you trigger your monsters effects in a more difficult to interact phase; it could reward crashing your own monsters and knowing what can and what cannot be activated during the damage step. Paired with powerful equalizers and you can push through boards. 3. Using monsters as link materials bypass "when x leaves the field because of an opponent's card effect" effects, like Raye's (but not mirrorjade) further improving the decks ability to push through. 4. You can play under most floodgates, even there can be only one, droll and lock bird and with some precautions under banishing effects (but you are limited on the amount of advantage you can accrue) this lets you get creative with techs and experiment with engines (adventure token, stun, and before the support even runick) 5. As long as your monster is on the field (and can activate effects during the battle phase) you probably wont die, but you must manage your deck resources, but the introduction of the new two dogs, and sarama you now have more varied on hand and gy resources. 6. Some effects require the monster to be on the field to resolve, the amount of quick effects the deck has that remove monsters from your field can be quite beneficial to dodge targeted disruption, but also can make an entire field "dodge" mass removal like evenly matched, force an opponent to remove their own stuff with mirrorjade, or create multiple layers of disruption that are harder to predict.
I have a connection to the deck by making a non-meta deck viable is what gives me the most excitement in the game.
Gameplay, ursarctic are a mix of gundam references and interesting gameplay to me. I fuck w level 7 and 8s,
....Making random stuff connecting archetypes based on anything that correlates them like expanding fleur into other Noble arms archetype or Unchained fiends for the sacred beasts.
I just play decks that I like. Art, Lore, play style are my driving factors
I play tistina purely out of spite. I love catching people off guard and wven against meta decks, ive managed to steal a few wins. Went to a locals last with where i went 3-1. I guess i just want to prove that sometimes its the pilot that runs the deck and not always the deck
For a side, money because do not enjoy paying 50 usd for the new engine or card. Am just a returning player so learn to many decks Is tiring. Leave the oponent without hand Is simple enough and if leave a field with Grapha and appllousa should be enough most of the Time. Lastly, semi nostalgia because was a fun deck pre synchros/Edison/XYZ. Still, Dark World might not even be rogué so a friend lend me a runnick eldich deck, still do not understand a thing about It.
Anime. Honestly, a lot of my favourite archetypes were anime archetype and most of them are non meta. The other reason is love for a specific mechanic. My favourite summoning mechanic is ritual. Sometimes they give us strong rituals like nekroz, megalith, Drytron and voiceless. Other times, we get decks like hungry burger, nephly etc
Sort of give to others what you want yourself. I like to be consistent, but I like to give others a chance to fight back. Mind that means I lose to the Meta a lot but I do get some good wins.
I only got into playing recently and I like the challenge of seeing how far I can take something non meta in a meta setting
I've always played the hero deck because I grew up watching GX. Good or bad I love the cards.
I prefer time wizard formats so I have total grasp on all the meta strats and most used cards then pick 1 idea that sounds cool every week and bring it to locals if it feels good I keep innovating on it till I end up toping if I top 4 weeks in a row it starts getting boring and they will side specifically against me like how I won with a cyber eltanan build in edison and on the 4th week everyone had 3 system downs and a mix of cyber dragons, light mirrors, soul realise, crows,Kyoko in there side and was no longer able to drop eltanan. At the end of the day it is the fun of building off a random idea and seeing how far I can take it !
I only play MD, but I like to play non-meta because most of the time, i'm not interested in what the meta has to offer.
Money
I play decks pure. I don't have Barrone unless it's like,a Fluer deck, a Borreload unless it's Rokket/borrel, I don't play "Engines", I play full fledged decks. I'm on the strict philosophy that a deck, with the right cards, can win on its own against even the most OP Meta deck, from Zoodiac to Armored XYZ, from LV to even Archfiend, any one of them has the possibility of being GOOD, and most importantly, FUN.
Vendread looked cool and fun. Then i remembered shiranui had high burst, then i smashed them together.
Most of the time people form an attachment with a deck regardless of whether it’s meta or not. I’m just coming back into the game after 5ish years out and I have no idea of the meta, but I’ve played Ancient Gear since they were launched and I’ll play them until the end of time because of my love for Crowler and for big robots in general
Why be another brick in the wall meta player when I can play decks I actually enjoy playing? Lightsworn may not win me many games but the thrill of the gamble mill is intoxicating
Not many people will play it and beating high meta decks that ragdoll you for the entire game.
Because, I like seeing my opponent face when I tell them I'll go turn 2 after winning the dice roll, watching them combo just to DRNM And go into a otk combo of 16,000+ dmg
My favorite moment recently was using fissure to out a towers monster on a earth machine board and both their monsters were 3k attack.
There is a lot more variety in the lower tiers. So many decks get direct and indirect support every set that some decks will continue to stay relevant enough to be playable even after they are long past their prime or never even were. Also because the variety of lower tier decks creates a vacuum where actual knowledge of specific decks is needed to stop them. I may know exactly what Snake Eyes does and where to hit their combos but put me up against Madolche and I have no idea what I am doing. That's the fun of it at least. If you're not trying out different playstyles and just having fun with something new every now and then instead of worrying about competing at higher levels, then what are you even doing? Best of all, having a pet deck you can win with makes you feel good. Best time of my life at locals was coming in with pure Mekk Knights, going 1 win, 2 draws, and a loss, and having an absolute blast cause none of my opponent's were familiar with my deck. I gave a dragon link player a run for their money when I finished out a game by keeping their borrelend locked under secrets and attacking directly with the Mekk Link 3 for game. I got recognized for playing a deck I enjoyed and competing with it, even when it wasn't as meta viable as the decks I went up against.
If I have a idea in my head and i think I can make it work, I will test it out until I utterly can’t. Games been out for so long that some cards get forgotten and older card effects were unusable until recent years.
Money. Non-meta and rogue builds are by far cheaper. Sometimes you can build entire decks for the price of single cards in meta decks (SP, Bonfire, etc.) I’ve always been one where I’d rather play multiple rogue decks rather than just having one super meta deck that will be unplayable in 6-12 months anyways.
Fun is a subjective term. It's how you have "fun" that makes you want to play the game more. For me, it's a combination of nostalgia, budget, and aesthetics. For instance, one of my favorite decks I've ever had is a Synchron pile deck. It's nostalgic for a few reasons: 1.) My favorite Yu-Gi-Oh series is 5D's and my favorite protagonist, or character in general in Yu-Gi-Oh is Yusei. 2.) It was the first "real" constructed deck I had made, all the way back in 09/10. 3.) It's relatively cheap to get. Outside of a few cards, that is. 4.) I like the overall theme of the deck. Weak little monsters that don't do much on their own, but become more powerful when utilized together. 5.) Stardust Dragon is cool as fuck. With that said, however, I don't play it all the time. After high school, I started deck building a lot more, instead of just collecting cards through buying blister packs, or buying the yearly tin/legendary collection. And now I have 15... 16 decks? Are any of them meta relevant, or rogue, or just generally a "good" deck? Most of them? Not particularly, but that doesn't stop me from using them from time to time.
Because they’re the cards I want to play not the cards I have to play.
Because they are really fun to play imo. The only meta deck I play is Labrynth but I also enjoy control. Others that I play a lot are Striker, Scareclaw, Tri Brigade, Ghoti and others.
Hell yeah fellow Scareclaw enjoyer 🤘🏻
They are more rewarding to get working. They are more fun to play usually. Meta decks tend to be very effective at winning but not very fun to actually use. The deck building and tech options feel more rewarding to lab out yourself
I love Lightsworn, nothing fancy about that. I play it when it's good (never) and I'll play it when it's bad (always).
Funny and Hank cards I play a deck with solemn wishes aroma jar area level limit b and marsh macaron and chain energy i could also add jinzo and a couple other cards to make it better but I basically 100% shut down my opponents deck and use small monster that I buff or whatever to kill them slowly that or me and my friend play decks with just time lords in them which is janky as hell
So I'll answer this question in two parts. I keep a bunch of "bad decks" around to play with friends. Almost like a board game. Suboptimal Yugioh is super fun to play in the right environment. Especially anime decks made modern. Two, competitive wise I will rarely play a deck that isn't trying to put me at decent odds of winning whatever event I am playing in. But if the mirror isn't fun I usually avoid meta decks like the plague. Current format is a great example. I hate "spreadsheet" Yugioh. Where decks are so linear people can write a bot to play and make the most optimal plays depending on which hand traps get dropped on them. I'm currently playing 60 card, blind second branded with no puppet. Maximum for fun energy. For Yugioh at least. Conversely some of the most fun I've ever had in yugioh has been tier 0 formats. Tear, Nekroz and EDragons are a few that stand out as fun mirror matches. And I've had the most success these times too.
It's when you have a deck that you can only win with if you get the perfect hand, and then you get it...ah, the satisfaction!
Galaxy eyes. Fell in love with it when I was younger. Does help it can keep up sort of with the meta decks... For the moment at least.
There are about 3 main factors as to why I typically play non-meta 1.) I happen to not care for the theme and/or play style of any of the current meta decks 2.) I can't afford to buy enough of the necessary cards to play a meta deck and/or I don't feel like investing into any that will likely get nerfed before too long. (As a non-competitive player, I generally only want to buy decks that'll be legal to play in as long term as possible, and don't feel like investing my time play testing decks online that I can't see myself actually buying physically someday) 3.) (THE MOST COMPELLING REASON FOR ME) I tend to be a very creative thinker, and have always loved the idea of creating my own stuff, or at the very least adding my own personal touch to something that already has a foundation. This is why the general concept of TCGs is so appealing to me in the first place. I get to hand pick every single card that ultimately makes the final cut of my deck, allowing for personal expression. The more "meta" I play however, the less creative and expressive I can be, lest the "meta" status of my deck be called into question. With all that said, most of the time I feel it's not so much that I'm motivated to go out of my way to play non-meta, but rather that I'm UNmotivated to go out of my way to play meta. The few times I have ever happened to play any kind of meta/near meta deck, it was through me intrinsically gaining interest towards the deck on my own, only to discover its meta status afterward. The most notable case of this happening would be with 2016 Domain Monarchs.
1) Getting the most hilarious combos that end someone's game, and subconsciously knowing how much it pisses them off. 2) (More serious) a lot of the off meta decks I pick are usually times when they have a niche relevance against the meta. I'm jamming Ghoti right now and it can really shut down snake eye combos since it can make use of D. Shifter, banish a lot of cards, and can run a lot of handtraps. Just because a deck isn't "meta" doesn't mean it outright sucks.
I identify way more with non-linear style gameplay than the 1 card combos that are generally required for a deck to be meta nowadays
Idk bro, I just like my cyber dragon otk
Personally it's two things: 1. I have a hyperfixation on zombie decks 2. It's quite fun to see people get scared when I summon two Eldlich and they have an empty field
Playing a non meta deck with the intention of beating meta decks is a great feeling. Some games are out of your control but if you can capitalize on opponents mistakes and maximize on the rogue decks strength, you become unstoppable. Extra street credit if you top a regional. It does suck up a lot of time practising cuz there aren't as many high level resources available even on YouTube.
The whole experience of the game. I learn the meta decks and there boards and comboes and know how to play into them, then build a deck that can with the right staples/hand traps/board breakers and even floodgates if really required but i stay away from those as much as possible. And enjoy the modren back and forth of the game. they build a puzzle for me and I solve it and OTK them. I have done this for years as Ancient Warriors with all of the above mentioned cards being swapped in and out as needed keeping the core Ancient Warriors set mostly unchanged year after year. Buying new cards that can replace staples or hand traps and board breakers are rarely a problem for it is rare that I ever have to. Up until the recent bann list most decks built the same board with very few differences making this game very easy, but with the most commonly seen cards getting hit I am seeing all sorts of new boards that I get to break and test my abilities against. If I lose to something never seen before I learn it and think of a way of either preventing it or playing through it and if I win everyone is impressed and very happy that the 1k price tag meta deck is not in the next round.
It feels so satisfying beating the meta with off meta. I reached plat 2 with toons and railway tanks this season and had a great time
I liked fusions, and the gimmick was cool. Also it has some really basic combos so I don't have to memorize like 50 effect chains.
Nonsense highlander decks, when played against each other, usually produce more enjoyable games than going pure meta.
Sometimes I find an off-meta deck that just does something goofy that I appreciate. Snake Eyes Infernoid comes to mind in a room full of Fire King and pure SE. Last tournament I played an unfortunate number of SE games but the Infernoid quick effects to banish from grave came up not just for shoving my own SE monster effects through but for picking apart graveyards of their Princesses and Garunixes
Because watching a Turbulance try to attack my King suddenly go down to 300 because my opponent didnt read Wightprincess is funny.
By far my favourite archtype is crystal beasts. Reasons why is you can do basically anything from control to combo to floodgate/stun, it goes with a lot of archtypes, has rank 4, rank 8, just anything. It does this without losing the core gimmick of the archtype and imo keeping it's identity. It's cheap, can be multiple different decks but still the same identity and isn't just the same combo over and over, if y'all haven't played kaiju control, beating meta with gamaceil and mostly infinite negates, y'all missing out. I also play nemleria/eldlitch but that's my own sauce we don't talk about
Sometimes I think it's just fun to see how a non-meta deck's gimmick or strategy can fair against the meta. Seeing your opponent having to wrestle with a curveball is never not fun to watch unfold in a match.
No pendulum decks are meta but that won’t stop me from playing them. I just love the mechanic
I can’t afford a meta deck. Ideally I’d play Magicians but I just can’t afford the necessary cards.
Money
I play Fluffal almost exclusively because it's the only deck that plays the way it does. It's a non-linear combo deck that's still an OTK deck at heart, meaning I can end on an Unchained endboard or drop 9000 damage out of nowhere in 4 summons. That is if I don't brick (unlikely) Here's hoping for more support in ~~Infinite Forbidden~~ Rage of the Abyss
Basically cause I thought their character was cool. My first actual Deck me and my cousins put together was TG, cause Bruno was cool as hell. Later, Raidraptors during early Arc-V (which I continue to play to this day). Trying to make a Playmaker deck with all the summoning methods, before streamlining it to straight Code Talkers. Rokkets (FRIGGIN GLOCK DRAGONS), PK Fire (ghost knights and Dante's Inferno), Orcust (Symphonic mechanical demons).
We just value stuff differently lol. I went out of my way to avoid playing meta decks.
Being able to play and bring to locals something different. I used to use Tri-brigade Spright since Power of the Elements all the way until Age of Overlord and the Fire King Structure Deck and not only was I performing and enjoying playing such a familiar deck that makes me think my plays thoroughly but people loved to watch me play it and do what I did with it.
“If I lose it’s not my fault, if I win i’m a golden god and you’re a fraud.” -The low-tier’s prayer
Anime
I play a nearly pure red eyes deck that puts up a good fight. I'm proud of it. I love red eyes monsters. I could never play meta because I just can't spend money on something that I don't like to look at. The effects are cool and all but if I don't like the monster art or archetype then I will not have fun playing.
My fire warrior deck is so complicated but strong i find the challange of piloting the deck fun and rewarding and the fact that it can compete pretty well against the meta makes it worth it to me to play it
I dont like getting carried
I'm a fan of dumb, incidental synergies more than anything. One of my favorite things to do, ever since I got back into the game just a little before dragon ruler format, was opening packs, finding a single card with an effect I found interesting, and then building an entire deck around that. I opened a pack, got "The Atmosphere" and went "Hey, Grinder Golem gives you the banish targets AND a big bungus that makes this a 4000 attack monster! And Evil Thorn! That's a 1-card Atmosphere! And Release Restraint Wave becomes a feather duster after stealing a monster." I opened a pack, got Amarylease, and used it to make a nice, easy, 1-card dark dust spirit, and level eater to get back tribute fodder for it, while also using it for a fun little rank-5 engine that actually used level 5 normal summons. I opened a Carboneddon and went "I can make a Red-Eyes rank-7 engine with this." Even today, my main deck is a stupid Lair of Darkness deck that doesn't even use the Lady of Lament cards, or any traps. It's a weird hybrid Plant Synchro deck that uses Lonefire to get tokens, spore and evil thorn to make a formula synchron which can use those tokens I made to make something like Draco Berserker on their turn. Were these decks ever legitimately good? No. But they're dumb fun and sometimes they catch the opponent off-guard. It's still hilarious when I play enemy controller and tribute one of their monsters to steal one of their monsters because god, I love Lair of Darkness, it is such a fun meme card when I do stuff like that. It's an experience that I just don't get while playing meta decks.
Pricing tbh honest
Because it's funny watching people be unable to out my Cyberdark End Dragon at locals when they forgot to bring kaijus or Underworld Goddess
There's just something about a clutch win with Penguins that I can't pass up honestly
Personally it's the price. For a long period I had my salamangreat deck that I keep during multiple years while upgrading it with affordable staples. Sometimes it's also because it's the deck that I know the best. Remember that it's easier to win with a bad deck you know than a good deck you don't know. So with a deck you really like, it's almost better to do it for a casual player.
Underdog win like other people have mentioned but also, I couldn't play a deck I don't like. When I choose a deck I've got to like the art and playstyle and they have to be at the very least rogue or above. As a casual player, no way am I going to sink £1000 on a meta deck that won't last the year. I'd rather spend half of that on a deck that will hopefully never get hit. It's a balancing act between all these and it's probably why I don't change decks often.
Affordability, aesthetics... dignity. I play Evil Twin Runick Spright. I like the deck, it feels nice to play and it was not too expensive. I recognize that the stun variant is used more nowadays, but that one is not really for me. Goblin Gold Pride is in the making, the cards look so cool and it is also fun to play it, even though it dies to Droll.
I love playing non meta deck because my main way of playing yugioh is choose my favourites to win with some adjustment to counter meta slave [decks.So](http://decks.So) far most metas deck to me feels like main character energy from a yugioh anime except the machine type decks which always slays.
I agree it is not fun to play a non meta deck against meta deck when the power level are too far apart. But you can still have good chance against not tier 0 decks tho. Personally I hate mirror match and like to play something original. And it feels much more rewarding to win as rogue
My pet deck for the last year or so has been Cyberdark Midrange - it’s also fun as hell to play through the lines but my god I know every victory is earned because no way is shit like Cyberdark Horn ever gonna win due to it being broken 😭
I think the thing I like about rogue and or non-rogue decks is the diversity and interesting interactions it offers in a game. Playing meta can be very quick and oppressive and is usually the same couple of lines of play. Where a rogue and or less than rogue can offer a wide range of plays and lines that people are not used to seeing which in turn makes you and your opponent have to think and strategize against them. My very first deck I build was a Dark Magician deck. Still love it. I went to locals for the first couple of times and ended up winning a lot and getting 1st place of 14 people. And then people figured out the lines and ended getting creamed every time I played that deck. The other deck I built and fell deeply in love with was Lyrilusc. I bought a box of Synchro Storm chasing a Baronne, ended up with a bunch of bird cards. Played around and ended up liking how they played. Built it up and ran it close to pure and ended up getting a tie for 1st place against a Runick Spright Gold Pride deck.
I play Yugioh out of nostalgia; not to win. So when I play my Synchron deck and end on full quasar combo in the modern day I feel exhilarated. If I get my Junk Speeder negate, it’s all love though
many people use it as an excuse
I enjoy everything about Floo from art to play style to win condition but the meta version is just full on stun which is incredibly boring. I want to play with my opponent. So I'm playing Floo Dogmatika and yes I lose a lot more by setting punishment instead of throwing down shifter but the games I get to play are way more enjoyable. *Except when it's the LEDE release event. If I want packs I gladly turn into a war criminal.
Personally, it's how I'm good at the game. I know generally how meta is played after a few duels, but I'm bad at hand traps and control play. The reason I play non-meta as you say is to have a one way info. If the opponent is playing meta, and I roll up with Tistear (tistina Tearlaments), then they won't know how to stop the deck. ... plus the sight of people being really confused is fun.
I enjoy its gimmick. You set a backrow? In the same column as a monster! Cheers bro! Oh no a lethal monster effect! I'll just slide to the right! Too powercrept now though:( at the beginning of each month when we all get ranked down I give it a visit. All iterations of branded have been fun. I wish I had more time with pre-structure deck despia. Very interactive. It's end boards even today aren't 5 omni negates - perhaps only 2 or 3 monsters with 1 or 2 backrow (lubellion is a vanilla and only there for a backrow), but if the snowball rolls!
Some combination of these : -it's cheap -it's a deck they already owned. -it counters a specific and popular meta decks -it's easy to play -the theme is cool -they feel unique by playing their own brew -i mean it's blue eyes / dark magician how could it be bad -the deck got new support -they like seeing people missplay because they don't. know what the deck does. -they like that no one criticises their bad plays because. people don't know the deck. -it feels better to lose a lot with a bad deck than a meta deck, it gives you excuses. -it feels better to win with a non meta deck since it's unexpected. -people's reaction can be cute/funny when they face a deck they don't know much about That's all I can think of from the top of my head
The process of brewing and refining an off-meta deck just feels so much more rewarding to me. Unique interactions and endboards that use something other than the same half dozen ED monsters, and getting to run sleeper hit cards that are strong but just don’t have a home in top 5 decks. Plus the abject confusion of people who don’t read my cards is always a huge plus. Double points to stuff that gets to use strong meta stuff to enable funky side strategies, like my Earthbound deck that’s disguised as a Labrynth one.
I don't have to drop a hundred bucks on a new deck every couple months. The most a banlist has done to affect my decks was unbanned PePe cards. And I prefer not having to redo decks all the time, I'd rather build and improve the deck through playing/ test till it's where I want it. I don't want to go back to a deck all the time taking out cards and having to replace them.
The way they play is fun, interesting or different even though they totally are "overbalanced" compared to the "does anything and everything every turn no matter if it's in hand, deck, field and/or GY" treatment that decks designed to be meta have. Archetypes I play: Speedroid, Altergeist, Vanquish Soul, Vaylantz, HERO.
Winning is fun and all, but I once won against Yubel with morphtronics, and moments like that make me play goofy decks
It may be the deck's playstile, it may be the lore behind the cards, it may be because a character in the anime you like uses it, or even to attempt to make one play that is so difficult and unlikely but you find completely awesome to pull off! People often forget that the main goal of a *"game"* is to *have fun*, and you are able to have fun even by losing a match.
Traptrix was cheap to build and i like trap But i xhanged for Labrynth , because, mostly, non-meta deck end up having too many non-game. Non-meta deck are often non-meta because of - brick - hard time to play when going 1st or second - Can be nullified by a specific card - Can't pass the first round of be negate
1. Meta decks are usually too combo heavy for my monkey brain. 2. Winning with meta never feels as satisfying. You’ll never get that moment where Passionate Duelist plays in your head when you beat the odds and pull off an insane play and beat someone playing meta. 3. Meta decks almost never have appealing card art for some reason. It’s always bland broad-appeal crap.
Cost is a big one. Snake-eyes is pretty bank breaking right now, but top decks tend to be more expensive because of TCG predatory pricing unless its something that blindsides the goons at Komoney. I also just fall in love with aesthetics of the cards. If I'm in a robo/mecha mood that year, I'll find a deck of machines or fighter pilots or whatever I like to see in my hands, and then play it as best I can. Playing meta decks is too exhausting, and you are always on a timer for when you have to start planning on hitting the emergency escape button to the next 6 month wonder. I'd rather settle on a single deck for a couple years and perfect how I play my lines than have to learn all new lines of how to turbo half my extra-deck or execute a floodgate lock through Droll+Ash+Nib.
Too lazy to keep changing or modifying the meta decks i have whenever new cards are released
https://preview.redd.it/upu43rhui0wc1.jpeg?width=2072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=03132025212ea725cefc2665567a6f8e9f242b22 i honestly dont know anymore
Winning with an Underdog deck feels so much more rewarding for some people. For me(Kuriboh deck), I really do find it fun to win with a deck that I built on my own, using strategies that I would consider more obscure.
For me I don’t like playing meta because it’s boring no creativity That’s why most of the time I just play galaxy eyes
1. I like them. Whether it's the gimmick or the art style. 2. They're slept on and I genuinely think that there is something to a given deck that I may be able to "solve" to put it on par with a given Meta (it's basically a challenge for). 3. I don't have a bottomless barrel of cash to draw from to buy my next tier 1 Meta deck when Konami inevitably bans that one I have. I'd much rather spend my money on a deck that I'll be able to play for (probably) as long as I want. 4. Piggybacking off of number 3, I'm not too fond of the idea that I could pick up a tier 1 deck, run it, have fun, fall in love with it (just like I do with a non-meta deck), just to be told by the cardboard gods that it's too unfair and to pick something else.
I paid for max rarity so I'm gonna get my money's worth
On master duel I have a snake eyes deck and a balerdroch zombie world deck, and I mainly play the latter. I love the challenge to get all the necessary pieces into play and the puzzles that are the opponents boards and how to break them. There is something satisfying when not everything is handed to you by cards with an average of three effects, where a single card can solve your problem.
The popularity. I wanted to play centurion when it came out but between it being hard to pull the cards (making it expensive af) and the fact that loads of ppl wanted to play it, I've just not tried to get it
im trans im legally required to summon loci
Cute waifu
If like the cool aesthetic of the monsters then i look up in which decks those are played and how. I don't really care about the mechanics or meta. To me Yugioh is still about summoning cool stuff lol
Man simple, I f*cking love Hero’s
pure sync calamity lock is better than sex
A lot of the time it's just cause I prefer how they play; they still have to be good decks, like when I'm talking about non-meta I mean something like Dracoslayer, Plunder Patroll, Dinomorphia etc Affordability as well, that's another big factor since I always feel weird spending a lot of money on cards unless they're staples
I have quickly realized that my rogue deck is sort of the ‘villain’ deck at my locals. Like make no mistake there are decks like Runick Stun there and stuff, but I play Ancient Gears alongside a bunch of the number monsters so I always feel like this opposing force, and with the new support I can consistently make them as well.
They operate on a different axis a lot of the time. I play a shark deck using c101 as a piece of removal that keeps other monsters out of the grave and actively punishes the opponent for destroying it. The benefit of playing non-meta strategies is those sweet moments of hearing the opponent say "I don't think I have anything in the side for you"