Deck Building Essentials, Part 1: Lucky Number 40

So I'd like to start of the discussion with something I see a lot of in newer players; decks with over 40 cards. I can't stress this enough to newer players (and no matter how much I do they never listen) but it is almost ESSENTIAL to only run 40 cards. there are a lot of things that go into deck building, but perhaps most important is NOT using cards that aren't needed. Most decks should be 40 cards. Not even 'as close as possible to 40', but 40 cards. If you have a card in your deck that is there 'for that guy that plays dragons' it should probably come out and head to the side deck. And I know that Alexandrite Dragon is a light dragon, but just because it's a quick beatstick doesn't mean it should go in a Chaos Dragons Deck. If a card is not essential to the deck's engine, and can't be abused by that engine, don't run it. You don't need 'just in case' cards. I know I used to build this way, and wound up with 53 card decks, wondering why I wasn't drawing what I needed. Keep your card total low, and you'll see that you get what you need more often. I will be posting about the side deck next week (this will probably be a weekly update by me) so any questions about that shouldn't be part of this post. And always, play hard and have fun!
-BrAv3rY