Introduction to Stun / Stall
What is Stun?
Stun Decks are a type of Anti-Meta Deck that aim to set up a hostile environment that punishes the opponent Continuously for doing certain things, usually Summoning Monsters or activating card effects. It's not a true disruption Deck, as once the environment of the stun is in place it's very easy to maintain and needs little supervision on the player's part; it's not quite a true stall Deck, as Stun Decks usually have a very aggressive beatdown strategy to supplement the stun environment; and it's not really a lockdown Deck, as the opponent is merely punished for doing certain actions, not kept from doing those actions altogether.
Why play Stun?
First question, do you hate people? Yes? Good.
Second Question, are you tired of this meta? Yes? Same.
Third Question, do you like winning with a flip or a Normal Summon of a single card? Of course, you do.
If you want to just cause mischief, chaos, and bring the community into an uproar, then playing stun decks might be for you. You're putting a large target on your back. Everyone will hate on you. But you don't care, all you want to do... is flip floodgates.
Floodgates are gaming at its peak form, a true artistry of ingenuitive play. Who needs to combo when you have the combo at the flip of a card? Why bother worrying about handTraps when your hand holds the Traps?
Deckbuilding
Stun vs. Stall vs. Control
Some people seem to be confusing what each gameplan does, so here's an explanation for each of them.
Stun is all built around completely preventing the opponent from accessing any of their available plays that they may have had, with the help of FLOODGATE CARDS! Stun decks have two primary win conditions, which could either be beatdown with Monsters, or by making the opponent quit the game. This strategy is common in decks such as Eldlich, wherein the deck plays an arsenal of different floodgates such as Skill Drain, Gozen Match, and Rivalry of Warlords, which can all shut down most decks at once. And slowly winning by attacking the opponent with Eldlich the Golden Lord, or their archetype Trap Monsters such as Huaquero of the Golden Land. The prime stun strategy involves both these win conditions, with the aid of Moon Mirror Shield or Mage Power to make Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo or any Barrier Statue into beatsticks AND floodgates at the same time.
Stall decks seem to be the same as stun. But with one difference, which is the main win condition of the gameplan, with it quite usually being alternate win conditions that's not attacking, such as burn or Exodia the Forbidden One. Stall decks aim to stall for time in order to achieve victory with their chosen Win Condition. They can play floodgates in order to slow the opponent down, but more often than not, stall will play cards that will keep them relatively safe from taking damage. Examples being cards like Fire Prison, Battle Fader, and Swift Scarecrow in order to prevent dying from battle. If they survive long enough, they will reach the state where their win-conditions are met and will receive victory. Cauldron of the Old Man, Exodia the Forbidden One, Final Countdown, and Wave-Motion Cannon are examples of the usual Stall win-condition.
Control decks aim to win the battle of attrition against their opponents. Control decks want to outvalue the opponent, and force them into a simplified game state with their cards. Most Control decks achieve this by using cards that trade 1 for 2+ against the opponent, such as Torrential Tribute, Ice Dragon's Prison, and Compulsory Evacuation Device. Decks that are designed to have a control based gameplan quite usually have an in-built archetypal way to gain a resource loop, such as with Eldlich, whose Trap cards cycle through the deck to gain a constant stream of Golden Lords and Traps. Or with Traptrix and Altergeists, gaining benefits that allow them to gain advantage on the activation of Trap Cards. In the late game, control decks shine as they will usually end up with more cards than the opponent, which imminently gives them the victory for the duel.
With all of these being said, let's get into some stunning deckbuilding.
