1. Use no more than 45 cards. 40 if you can manage. This is the first rule because I feel that it's very important. I see a lot of people who think that having a ton of cards in their deck is good. It isn't. The fewer you have in your deck, the more likely you are to draw the ones you need, and the more likely you are to win. On a similar note, you want to use Pot of Greed and Graceful Charity as well. Both cards speed up the deck considerably, and they both improve your hand. Don't worry about getting decked out. It rarely happens.

2. Use Staple Cards. There are several easy to get cards that you should be using. All of them are either non-holo or in a starter deck.

Pot of Greed (LOB, TP3)
Graceful Charity (SDP)
Monster Reborn (all starter decks)
Change of Heart (SDY, SDP, SDJ)
Dark Hole (all starter decks)
Mystical Space Typhoon (SDP)
Scapegoat (SDJ)
Man Eater Bug
Witch of the Black Forest (MRD, SDJ)
Sangan (MRD, SDJ)
Cyber Jar (MRL)

There are some other good cards you can add in:
Waboku (various starter decks)
Magic Drain (PSV)
Trap Hole
Fissure
White Magical Hat
Robbin' Goblin
Cannon Soldier

Finally, there are a few other cards that are just fun to throw in.
Magician of Faith
Jirai Gumo
Morphing Jar #2
Michizure
Fairy Box
Skull Lair

In addition, there are a few cards that are a little rarer that you need in just about every deck. If nothing else, try to get ahold of a Raigeki, Heavy Storm, and Feather Duster, but don't trade every good card you have to get them. For the future, look at getting Mirror Force, Call of the Haunted, Premature Burial, Snatch Steal, Exiled Force, and Imperial Order. Other good cards (not as important as the last list) are Torrential Tribute, Delinquent Duo, Sinister Serpent, and Magic Cylinder.

3. Make sure your deck has a theme. Don't run a Relinquished/Burn/Beadown/Fusion Deck. Decks with a single theme are more effective.

Fusion:
If you build a Fusion Deck, be sure that you have 3 Polymerization, and also be sure that you could use all 3 Polymerization to make the Fusion monster. Also, it's a good idea to use at least 2 of each monster required in a Fusion. Fusion Decks are slow, so cards like Cyber Jar are especially good in the deck.

Beatdown:
There are a ton of people who have 3 Gemini Elves. If you choose to run all 1800's. you won't fair very well. I'd recommend using 1-2 Zombrya the Dark for the time being. Thunder Nyan-Nyan is fairly easy to get, and a decent substitute to Gemini. Cannon Soldier, believe it or not, works well in beatdown decks. I'm not a fan of Tribute monsters in most cases, but 1-2 Summoned Skull can work. A lot of beatdown users use a lot of equips, but I don't recommend that. Monster Removal is better.

Burn:
This is one of the easiest deck types to make on a low budget. You have Cannon Soldier, Toll, Giant Germ, Ookazi, Just Desserts, and several more easy to get cards that can do direct damage. With this deck, you have to watch out for Hand Depletion. If at all possible, you should get a Fiber Jar.

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