I have always believed side decking to be simple, but on forums and real life I often see side decks being argued over, and many players miss the basic points about side deck.
Many player are also too insecure about their own side deck and end up doing the great mistake of net decking a side deck, which often is a one way trip to a loss.
Side decking is complex, but can easily be broken down. It requires the same kind of knowledge as used when building a main deck, but the skill also lies in exchanging the right cards for the right cards.
1. What do you expect to face?
This one is actually self explanatory but sometimes overlooked. Even if you have a wickedly bad matchup against Gravity Bind based decks, you shouldn't fear them as the aren't numerous enough to have an impact.
2. What do you struggle against?
For example, let's say I'm playing my Dark World Tour deck. That means I really heavily on Special Summons, need to keep my Field Card alive, thrive on face-down cards, and can handle Skill Drain but not Macro Cosmos.
Try to think along these lines.
3. What do those decks struggle against?
Macro has nothing but a bunch of bad monsters when facing S/T removal, King Tiger Wanghu mutilates an entire Plant deck except for Tengu, Thunder King Rai-Oh makes T.G. and Gadgets next to useless, etc.
Then comes the conclusion;
I should include cards into my side deck, which doesn't hinder me, but hinders my opponent, whom I else would have a hard time beating.
Newer players often makes the mistake of including cards they couldn't fit into their main deck into their side deck, which is very wrong most times. Sure, some cards fit well into both main and side deck, like Effect Veiler, but this rare.
For example, take this 1st place Tengu Plant side deck from YCS Indianapolis;
2 Thunder King Rai-Oh
2 Banisher of the Radiance
2 Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo
2 Forbidden Lance
2 Dimensional Prison
1 Mirror Force
1 Royal Oppression
1 Chain Disappearance
1 Chain Whirlwind
1 Malevolent Catastrophe
At first glance, this side deck seems flawed. The deck itself relies heavily on the Graveyard, searching, and Special Summoning meaning Banisher, Rai-Oh and Fossil Dyna respectively stops you.
In addition, these monsters are almost always used in Anti-Meta, and only rarely used against or in Synchro-based decks.
However, given the fact that these are your cards, and in your hand, means you chose when to use them and when to not. An unprepared opponent will have side decked in copies of Chain Disappearance, D.D. Crow, Effect Veiler and other similar cards to stop you. These cards not only become dead due to the lack of plays to stop, but additionally their deck now lies in pieces due to your beatdown Anti-Meta style plays.
Then we have the more common cards in form of Spell and Trap Destruction. This deck main decks Effect Veiler, meaning it isn't side decked.
The above is an example of more extreme side decking, because this side deck is meant to modify your main deck into another deck, designed to both ruin your opponent's main AND side deck, at the cost of switching strategy.
This strategy is effective due to the fact that Tengu Plant has a very strong game 1, meaning you will mostly win against other decks game 1, then switching to a different approach which not only ruins their side decking, but gives you an edge. The choice of Anti-Meta based monsters were clearly based upon the mirror match, which also was abundant; of the top 16 decks 8 were Tengu Plants.
As a second example, the Tengu Plant 2nd place finishing player;
1 Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter
2 Thunder King Rai-Oh
2 Kinetic Soldier
2 D.D. Crow
1 Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo
1 Smashing Ground
2 Dust Tornado
1 Mirror Force
1 Chain Disappearance
2 Malevolent Catastrophe
No Banisher or Royal Oppression, but instead more assurance against a normal player.
This deck also contains hints of counter side decking, as Ryko and Smashing Ground obviously are meant to counter opposing Banishers, Fossil Dynas, and Rai-Ohs.
Other than that, it contains the typical side deck elements, S/T removal, anti-Six Samurai, and D.D. Crow.
As a conclusion, this side deck is made to give you an edge, without losing the original consistency or changing playstyle.
Now, re-read the intro points marked 1-3.
Okay, now I know what side deck is supposed to do, but how do I do it?
This is were I give you a list of side deck-eligible cards, including what to use them in and against. This is merely an approximation to get you started and is based on my own experiences, tournament reports, feature matches and theory. Meant primary for the new ban list.
Cards for use against...
Agent Angel
Effect Veiler (stops Hyperion, Venus and Earth)
Bottomless Trap Hole (against Venus, Hyperion and Kristya)
Chain Disappearance (against Shine Balls and Earth)
Prohibition (against Hyperion)
Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer (beats over most things, prevent's Kristya and Hyperion)
Thunder King Rai-Oh (stops Earth, Hyperion, and Kristya but is slapped in the face by Venus)
Light-Imprisoning Mirror (against everything except Kristya's continuous effect)
Skill Drain (same as Light-Imprisoning Mirror, but provides win combined with Colossal Fighter)
Anti-Meta
Malevolent Catastrophe (destroys Spells and Traps)
Dust Tornado (destroys Spells and Traps)
Smashing Ground (Simple out to annoying monsters)
Mystical Space Typhoon (destroys Spells and Traps)
Dimensional Prison (Simple out to annoying monsters)
Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter (Simple out to basically anything)
Spirit Reaper (Depending on build, can be hard to get rid of and provides advantage)
Blackwings
Starlight Road (against Icarus Attack)
Royal Decree (the usually play a lot of traps)
Cyber Dragon (for quick beatdown)
Thunder King Rai-Oh (against Black Whirlwind and Synchro Summons, but bad against Sirocco)
Blackwing - Sirocco the Dawn (to absorb their monster's ATK)
Chaos
Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer (to basically shutdown the entire deck)
Bottomless Trap Hole (against Sorcerer, BLS or whatever)
Koa'ki Meiru Drago (if playing Dragons use him because he stops the deck dead in its tracks)
Fiend Comedian (removing the entire Graveyard is good, but only if you can afford failing)
Dimensional Prison (since they don't go the grave but rather are removed...)
Dimensional Fissure (to stop basically everything)
Puppet Plant (to steal a Chaos Sorcerer or BLS, which in worst case can Banish itself)
Dark World
Mystical Space Typhoon (against Gate of the Dark World and Skill Drain)
Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror (to stop the entire deck except Grapha's summoning)
Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer (to shut down Gate and banish everything)
Prohibition (against Grapha)
Dust Tornado (against Gate of the Dark World and Skill Drain)
Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World (when they discard it, you get the good effect)
Effect Veiler (if playing TCG, to stop Tour Guide)
Dimensional Fissure (to lock down everything)
Banisher of the Radiance (even more lockdown but can be killed with Snow/Tour Guide)
Dragons
Thunder King Rai-Oh (against Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon)
Bottomless Trap Hole (against REDMD)
Prohibition (against REDMD)
Gozen Match (different attributes)
Koa'ki Meiru Drago (for the mirror)
Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer (to combat Wyvern and Totem Dragon)
Elemental HERO
Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer (to prevent Miracle Fusion, just watch out for Parallel World Fusion)
Puppet Plant (to steal their monsters)
Dimensional Prison (against all the Fusions, beware of Gemini Spark)
Non-Fusion Area (pretty obvious)
Neo-Spacian Grand Mole (simple out to all the Fusions)
Gozen Match (many different attributes)
Empty Jar
Effect Veiler (to stop Morphing Jar)
Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World (when they discard it, you get the good effect)
Skill Drain (to stop Morphing Jar)
Nobleman of Crossout (not only removes Jar, but slows down their other monsters as well)
D.D. Crow (to stop A.D. Changer)
Gadget
Cyber Dragon (for using Chimeratech Fortress Dragon)
System Down (for clearing the Field)
Pulling the Rug (to make their summons useless)
King Tiger Wanghu (killing all Gadgets as soon as they hit play)
Mystical Space Typhoon (for stopping Ultimate Offering)
Dust Tornado (for stopping Ultimate Offering)
Thunder King Rai-Oh (reduces Gadget's effect into nothing)
Skill Drain (against their effects)
Gladiator Beast
Dimensional Prison (a simple out to prevent them form tagging, just beware of Forbidden Lance)
Malevolent Catastrophe (blowing out their backrow)
Effect Veiler (stopping Gyzarus and to some extent Heraklinos)
Swallow Flip (against any Gladiator)
Thunder King Rai-Oh (high ATK coupled with stopping Stratos, Exceed, Gyzarus and Proving Ground)
Prohibition (naming Gladiator Beast Bestiari)
Gladiator Taming (against any monster in the deck)
Starlight Road (to stop Gyzarus)
Mirror of Oaths (to destroy a Gladiator and earn a draw)
Skill Drain (against the entire deck)
Gravekeeper
Closed Forest (to prevent them from playing Necrovalley)
Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World (makes their Royal Tribute a loss)
Mystical Space Typhoon (to destroy Necrovalley and Wonder Wand)
Dust Tornado (to destroy Necrovalley and Wonder Wand)
Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror (to shutdown all the monsters)
Nobleman of Crossout (gives Gravekeeper's Spy the finger)
Thunder King Rai-Oh (makes short work of Commandant and Recruiter)
Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell (to make all copies of Necrovalley or Gravekeeper's Steele useless)
Herald of Perfection
Banisher of the Radiance (disallowing them his effect, basically resulting in a loss)
Effect Veiler (to prevent Earth, Hyperion and Manju)
Thunder King Rai-Oh (to prevent Earth, Hyperion, Kristya, Manju and so on)
Mask of Restrict (against the Ritual Spell Cards)
Light-Imprisoning Mirror (against the entire deck)
Skill Drain (against the entire deck)
Mind Crush (can be chained against either the Ritual, or used after Earth/Manju/Senju)
Karakuri
Swallow Flip (against Burei, Bureido and Strategist)
Cyber Dragon (for using Chimeratech Overdragon)
Effect Veiler (for stopping their set-up)
Mirror of Oaths (killing of their Burei and Bureido searches while drawing a card)
Thunder King Rai-Oh (nothing can get over it, and it stops the larger plays)
Lightsworn
Ally of Justice Decisive Armor (winning the game outright unless they have Effect Veiler)
Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer (stopping Chaos shenanigans and Necro Gardna while removing targets for Judgment Dragon and Dark Armed Dragon)
Light-Imprisoning Mirror (against the more pure Lightsworn builds as it has nothing on Dark Armed Dragon)
Fiend Comedian (removing their entire graveyard is good, but don't use it unless you can handle the mill)
Book of Eclipse (can be played in an attempt to deck them out)
Monarchs
Chain Disappearance (against Treeborn Frog, and the eventual follow-up Tour Guide into Leviair)
Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer (to remove Treeborn Frog and prevent Ronintoadin)
Skill Drain (against basically the entire deck)
King Tiger Wanghu (making sure Treeborn Frog stays dead)
Pulling the Rug (to make their summons useless)
Effect Veiler (to deprive them of their effects)
Mask of Restrict (nullifying the entire aspect of tributing)
Plant Variants
Chain Disappearance (even while maybe not banishing multiple copies, it still removes the monster)
King Tiger Wanghu (just beware of that wicked Tengu)
Dimensional Fissure (reduces the deck into basically nothing)
Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer (removes key cards while simultaneously just being a 1800 ATK beater)
Effect Veiler (makes Lonefire, Debris Dragon, Tour Guide and a lot of other cards sitting ducks)
D.D. Crow (even with Leviair this card is worth it, as it stops their big plays)
Skill Drain (leaves few, if any, threats)
Fiend Comedian (good if you flip heads, but don't use it unless you can manage the failed flip effect)
Swallow Flip (stopping Black Rose, Trishula, Librarian, Doppelwarrior, Formula and so on)
Mirror of Oaths (taking care of Lonefire Blossom, Reborn Tengu, One for One and Tour Guide)
Rescue Rabbit
Bottomless Trap Hole (for banishing both their targets, leaving the last one a dead draw)
Chain Disappearance (to banish all copies of Rabbit or all copies of Tour Guide)
King Tiger Wanghu (killing of all key cards as soon as they hit the field)
Imperial Iron Wall (rendering Rabbit useless, as well as the Gold Sarcophagus they might play)
Mirror of Oaths (against both Rabbit and Tour Guide)
Prohibition (so they can't use Rabbit)
Neo-Spacian Grand Mole (against everything but Raiga)
Rivalry of Warlords (unless the play Beast-type monsters main-decked)
Legendary Jujistu Master (as Raiga can't negate Effects but only summons)
Scraps
D.D. Crow (banishing Beast when they try to retrieve it)
Effect Veiler (stopping Chimera plays)
Bottomless Trap Hole (stopping Beast, Chimera and Scrap Dragon)
Prohibition (on Scrap Dragon)
Victoria (to retrieve their fallen Scrap Dragons)
Six Samurai
Effect Veiler (to stop t1 Shi En)
Chain Disappearance (for most possible success used on Kagemusha, but Elder and Kageki are also fine)
Mystical Space Typhoon (to wipe out Gateway, Dojo, and United, can also destroy Magatama before it can do anything to you)
Dust Tornado (same as Mystical Space Typhoon)
T.G.
Thunder King Rai-Oh (blocking out the search while being bigger than anything barring Rush Rhino)
Malevolent Catastrophe (destroying all of the their Spell and Traps cards they rely on)
Dimensional Prison (killing of their monsters without activating their effects)
Chain Disappearance (if facing the more aggressive variant, you can remove all copies of T.G. Striker)
Nobleman of Crossout (when they set to avoid being Warning, for example)
Spirit Reaper (to reduce their hand size while walling)
Worms
Effect Veiler (to stop Worm Xex plays)
Starlight Road (against Offerings to the Snake Deity)
Skill Drain (making the deck far less effective)
Light-Imprisoning Mirror (same as Skill Drain, essentially)
Ally of Justice Catastor (all effects are effective)
Cyber Dragon (taking care of the monsters before W Nebula Meteorite becomes effective)
Trap Stun (against Dimensional Prison, W Nebula, Offerings and the like)
X-Sabers
Thunder King Rai-Oh (against the nefarious Darksoul)
Puppet Plant (making sure no Fulhelmknight stalls you, while being able to control a variety of targets)
Chain Disappearance (against Darksoul and Pashuul)
Effect Veiler (to not get defeated by Trap Stun+Hyunlei, while holding other uses as well)
Gottom's Emergency Call (so you can steal their monsters for your Synchro/Exceed summons)
Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer (removing targets for Gottom's and Faultroll)
Prohibition (mostly on Fulhelmknight because it disallows or makes it harder to pull Hyunlei)
Starlight Road (against Hyunlei and the occasional Debris Dragon+Darksoul for Black Rose)
Zombies
D.D. Crow (delaying the bigger plays)
Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror (blocking out most of the effects)
Dimensional Prison (against Spirit Reaper, Goblin Zombie, Mezuki, Card Trooper and Sangan poking)
Dimensional Fissure (blocking out most effects and preventing set up)
King Tiger Wanghu (giving all the weenies a hard time)
Thunder King Rai-Oh (negating Goblin Zombie's search capabilities)
Did I forget something? If so, please tell me.
Starlight Road is fun against Lightsworn. Hitting JD or Celestia rocks.
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