Original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/yugioh/comments/1spo994/a_deck_for_a_10_year_old/
It's roughly a week later, and I'm here to give an update on what happened with this post.
So, you all gave a bunch of ideas, some better than others that's for sure. Some decks that take 40 steps to achieve cold fusion, others that are simple, but you need to drop $100 for 3 cards, and others saying "Just give her Mikanko". More on that later.
Going through them, I was really thinking about going down the Aleister route, I was watching Jesse Kotton demonstrate what Amazoness could do, and was debating whether or not Centur-Ion was really a good idea. So many suggestions to go through, so much thought that has to be put into them. Then, we get some DMs.
u/goofierrez sends a DM, saying he's got a bunch of spare Mikanko cards, and that he could ship them.
In the comments of the original post, I was adamant against the Mikankos because her dad said no, nuh uh, no Mikankos. But... You guys wore me down, gang. Fine, let's pull the trigger on this plan. Operation "Dragon Duelist Investment" is a-go.
We have a bit of back and forth about what I've got, what he's got. I send a picture of all the extra Mikanko stuff I've got laying around, he takes inventory of what he has, start formulating a gameplan. Then, later, u/Dontspeakbroke sends me a DM as well. What do you know, it's 2023 YCS top 64 Chris W. He says he's got cards from his topping list he can send as well, and very straight forward. He's right, this deck is very straight forward. And Evil. Perfect. He calls it Luna 8-Axis, and it revolves around Kaijuing your opponent, then using Fairy Tail Luna to bounce the Kaiju back to hand. Then Kaiju them again. Or if you have Alpha the Master of Beasts, you Kaiju, Alpha, bounce kaiju and Alpha, Kaiju again, Alpha again, Kaiju again, Alpha again, etc. After some back and forth, we formulate a list, I talk about what I've already got, what I'm missing, and lock that in as well.
Meanwhile, goofierrez is looking through bulk, seeing what he can find, and also asks his "boys" for other cards to include, saying "I might include a few surprises." Oh, alright! The more the merrier I suppose. He sends me a picture of six stacks of cards. One with Mikanko Ohime on the top, another with Kiwi Magician Girl on the top, and the others all flipped face-down. I guess I'm going to be learning what he sent alongside the intended recipient. Both boys send off their packages.
Chris' package arrives first. I spend a night chatting with him switching around cards and making a viable build of 8-Axis. The extra unused cards go in a box I just label "Xtras"
Come Friday, I was intending to meet her and her dad at my LGS. That was not to be. Field trip tomorrow, so everyone is staying home so they can get up early and leave the house. Alright, change of plans then. I drive home, grab Goofierrez' package that had just hit my mailbox about 20 minutes ago, head inside, organize everything, pack it up, and then haul back the way I came to meet them at their house instead.
I get there, dad starts making small talk about the card bag he's got and the new number monsters he's collected thus far, daughters off in her own little universe. Dad's getting ready to start playing, shuffling a deck, having no idea what I've got planned. I call her over, give a spiel about the previous post, and that I've got some cards for daughter. No longer will she have to have an aneurism trying to figure out modern blue-eyes. So, let's get started!
I take out the boxes one at a time, letting her open it, and then pulling out another, not hinting at how many of these things I actually have with me. So, let us all discover what she got in the order I gave them, together. Now to be clear, a lot of these are a lot more complicated than the initial goal was, but now she has at least 1 simple deck, and she has others she can grow into and learn as she becomes a better player. SO:
- I hand her a box with LL written on the side of it. Pulls it out, and right on the top is Lunalight Liger Dancer. She's got no idea what she's looking at, but "it's pretty competitive" comments dad.
- I hand over a box with MG written on the side of it. It's Kiwi Magician Girl and friends. Some Dark Magician Girls, some copies of the classic Dark Magician. It's not enough for a full deck, so it's a daughter and dad project.
- Another box labeled "Mrow". Same thing as before, it's not a full deck, but it's a handful of Purrely cards.
- "Staples", exactly what it says on the front. Nothing exciting she's going to care about right now at this stage, but the must-haves for any deck. Your drolls, ashes, lightning storms, ogres, veilers, crossout, called by, that stuff. The whole package.
- "Engage", you know her, you love her, it's Sky Striker Ace Raye and friends. I know dad's already got this one, but now she has her own. If Goofierrez told me he was intending to send Sky Striker I would've probably told him to hold off on it. At the same time though, there is something special about being able to call it yours.
- Then I hand over 8-Axis. A 10 year old who's never seen these cards before isn't going to understand exactly what they're looking at, to them it looks like a pile of level 8s (because it IS a pile of level 8s). But the surprising part is dad had the same reaction. He's never seen this deck before either. I explain it's origins, and after this whole exchange, he says "Hear that [Name]? You've got a champion deck!"
- Box 7 is just the cards that didn't make the cut for our version of 8-Axis. We didn't have all the cards for it, so it's a box of cards that should be put in later. Two Horus monsters in there, but we didn't have King's Sarc so I just put them in that box, stuff like that.
- The star of the show, saving it for last on purpose. I hand her Mikanko. She pulls it out face-down, flips it up, and she is immediately greeted by Uzuhime the Manifested Mikanko. I specifically put it there to guarantee it would be the first thing she saw.
She starts riffling through it, rattling off each Mikanko name she sees and her smile getting bigger as she's going through them. Dad goes "AAAAUGH" (He really doesn't like Mikanko, but in a joking way). She starts making comments like "I kept asking for them!" and other 10-year-oldisms. She then starts talking about how she knows how to play them, digs out Uzuhime, Ha-Re, and Hu-Li, puts them in a stack on the table with Uzuhime on top, and starts saying "I make her, and then I go POW, (she detaches a material) and then POW, (she detaches a material), and POW, and then I win."
So, mission success guys. After that she asked dad at least 3 times if he will play against her while she plays Mikanko. She's got some other decks to learn too, now.
I need to leave work as I'm finishing writing this, so I don't have time to proofread this or make it more digestible. Good luck reading my ramblings.