…you’ll want to destroy your opponent’s cards one at a time and counter each individual play your opponent makes to lock him out of a Duel. Cards like Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter and Caius the Shadow Monarch can take down your opponent’s threats one at a time. Failing that, you’ll want to wipe the field and start your opponent over with far fewer cards than he began with.

Debris Dragon can Special Summon a weak monster like Dandylion or Lonefire Blossom from your Graveyard, allowing you to Tune Debris Dragon with the monster you bring back and Synchro Summon Black Rose Dragon to clear the field! Quickdraw Decks also use cards likeBottomless Trap Hole, Solemn Warning, and Light and Darkness Dragon to keep control and make sure your opponent can’t catch up once he’s behind.

Quickdraw Decks have their fair share of heavy hitters and light defenders, too. After Synchro Summoning Drill Warrior (2400 ATK), you can discard Dandylion with Drill Warrior’s effect each turn to Special Summon an additional 2 Fluff Tokens to protect yourself. If you’re a Quickdraw Duelist, you can use the Fluff Tokens to help you Summon and use the effects of big monsters like Caius the Shadow Monarch (2400 ATK) and Tytannial, Princess of Camellias (2800 ATK) to finish things off. By blocking with Fluff Tokens and attacking directly with Drill Warrior, it becomes impossible for your opponent to deal enough damage to win before you finish off his Life Points.

It’s a slow and steady strategy that eventually finds the opponent with no cards and no way to win!

… then you ideally want to have an explosive turn that your opponent can’t recover from.  Infernity Duelists often attempt to make all of their big plays in a single turn. If you’re running an Infernity Deck, you’ll probably Set lots of cards in your Spell and Trap Card Zone, load up your Graveyard with monsters, and start making game-winning moves when there are no cards left in your hand. (Remember, Infernity effects only work when you have no cards in your hand.)

The successful Infernity Decks at YCS Toronto were able to set up a loop using multiple copies of Hundred-Eyes Dragon. Like those Duelists, you can use Infernity Launcher or Infernity Mirage to Special Summon Infernity Archfiend and Infernity Necromancer from your Graveyard. Then you can use Archfiend’s effect to grab an “Infernity” card from your Deck, usually Infernity Barrier or Infernity Break. After Setting that card, you can use Necromancer’s effect to Special Summon Infernity Avenger from your Graveyard. Next, you can Tune Archfiend, Necromancer, and Avenger together to Synchro Summon Hundred-Eyes Dragon.

By removing Infernity Mirage from your Graveyard with the effect of Hundred-Eyes Dragon, you can Tribute your Dragon to Special Summon Infernity Archfiend and Infernity Necromancer back to your field and repeat the combo. This lets you fill your field with copies of Infernity Barrier and Infernity Break before Synchro Summoning Infernity Doom Dragon.

You can also remove a Necromancer from your Graveyard with the effect of one of yourHundred-Eyes Dragons, once you run out of Mirages to remove. This lets you use its effect to Special Summon an Infernity Archfiend that you can keep on the field in Attack Position, to fulfill the activation requirement for your Barriers.

That’s the best case scenario. Frequently though, you’ll find that you’ll have to play a much longer game. Fortunately, even without the cards needed to make the loop that loads the field with Trap Cards, Infernities are a powerful force. Even a single activation of Infernity Archfiend’s effect can get you the card you need to dominate the Duel. Using Archfiend again and again, turn after turn can make your opponent’s struggle into a futile one.

If you’re a Quickdraw Duelist… it’s important to know how your Infernity opponent’s strategy works and the cards they’re likely to play. Your opponent will be setting a lot of cards in his Spell and Trap Card Zone. This way, he won’t have any cards in his hand, and can activate the effects of his Infernity cards. The cards he Sets may include Solemn Judgment, Infernity Barrier, and Trap Stun, which are capable of limiting the amount of control you have over the Duel. But don’t worry. You have plenty of ways to deal with these cards!

Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter usually does a great job taking down an important card in an Infernity Duelist’s Spell and Trap Card Zone. Although Caius the Shadow Monarch can do the same, it’s even more effective at removing the opponent’s Infernity monsters, which he needs in the Graveyard to make his big plays. (As a bonus, Caius will inflict 1000 damage when it removes your opponent’s DARK monster, i.e. any Infernity.)

Debris Dragon is arguably your MVP in this matchup. Since Infernity Duelists like to put everything they draw onto the field, using Debris Dragon to quickly Synchro Summon Black Rose Dragon and wipe the field can give you a huge lead! Cold Wave and Trap Stun can help you make sure your Black Rose Dragon play is successful so you don’t lose out to Trap Cards like Starlight Road or Infernity Barrier. Junk Destroyer can also be a great card for clearing the opponent’s field after using Cold Wave or Trap Stun.

Trap Cards like Solemn Warning can also be awesome in this matchup. If your Infernity opponent attempts to make a big play without using Trap Stun first, you can usually disrupt it by negating a Summon with Solemn Warning. You can even use Solemn Warning if your opponent topdecks Infernity Archfiend and tries to Special Summon it from his hand!

While Dandylion is often the star player in this Deck, you don’t need to rely on it in this matchup. Fluff Tokens are nice to have, but they won’t win you the Duel against Infernities. Once an Infernity Duelist builds up the field he needs, he won’t care how many 0 ATK and 0 DEF Tokens you have out there.

When you sense weakness from your opponent, use your big monsters instead. A few direct attacks from Caius, Tytannial, or Nitro Warrior will give you a quick victory over an Infernity Duelist who gets a slow start.

If you’re an Infernity Duelist… your best chance of beating a Quickdraw opponent is to race him. Finish off your opponent before he can grab control of the Duel. You’ll want to getInfernity Archfiend, Infernity Necromancer, and Infernity Avenger into the Graveyard as quickly as possible. That makes Infernity Inferno an awesome card here. Once you get those monsters into the Graveyard, you’ll want to start making plays that bring them back onto the field as soon as it’s safe. Be aware that Quickdraw Duelists will do anything they can to stop you from building up your field, and have a lot of ways to do so. Fortunately, you have plenty of solutions!

If you activate Trap Stun before going for your big plays, you’ll be immune to just about every defensive card your opponent may have. Using Trap Stun at the start of your turn, instead of chaining it to an opponent’s Trap Card, is quickly becoming a strategic play. That’s because a lot of Quickdraw Duelists are using Solemn Warning, which can shut down an Infernity Deck in its tracks. Since Solemn Warning is a Counter Trap, Trap Stun can’t be chained to it.

You can also make your big moves under the protection of Solemn Judgment or Infernity Barrier, or use Giant Trunade to clear your opponent’s Spell and Trap Card Zone before pulling off your combo. Once you’re successful at filling the field with 3 copies of Infernity Barrier and a big monster like Infernity Doom Dragon, there’s a strong chance that your opponent won’t be able to defeat you.

Infernity Duelists should always be cautious when Normal Summoning Infernity Archfiend to the field. Quickdraw Duelists (as well as other Duelists) may use Bottomless Trap Hole to remove it from the game when you desperately need it in your Graveyard. If you don’t haveTrap Stun, Book of Moon, or another way to protect an Infernity Archfiend from getting hit by Bottomless Trap Hole, you’ll frequently be better off Setting it instead of Normal Summoning it.

Also, beware of Book of Moon, as it can prevent you from Synchro Summoning and potentially leave you stuck with no ability to defend yourself. If your opponent catches you off guard and then Summons Junk Destroyer and completely wipes out all your cards, you’ll have nothing but the top card of your Deck to rely on.

Quickdraw Decks and Infernity Decks function very differently, but have an awesome matchup against one another. Either Deck can win! Key cards and critical plays will frequently be the determining factor in deciding which Duelist triumphs.