The Assault Player's Perspective
(the following is compiled by the Site Administrator from information collected from duelists)

An Assault player is one who has sacrificed the speed granted to them by filling a deck with small creatures. Instead, they hope against, and make attempts to prevent, the loss of creatures, by using larger or more resilient ones, and increasing their resistance over time, whilst still usually focusing as much as they can on breaking shields. An Assault deck can nearly never end a duel before the sixth turn, but they usually hope that it does not take much longer, as they simply weather the opponent's retaliation and keep pressing forward for the goal.

The Assault player's methods are often difficult to understand, as their cards are often quite conditional, and rely on power a bit more than those of a Blitz. Ranging from basic to mind-numbingly complex both in structure and strategy, Assault is one of the largest varied 'decktypes' in Duel Masters, and one of the easiest to build or play very badly.

The only true indication of someone who will enjoy playing this style, is that they think very similarly to a Blitz Player in terms of keeping constant pressure on an opponent, but prefer to do it by using creatures that may be more difficult to use, but are also more difficult to destroy, or somehow make the opponent's efforts at retaliating, strenuous. The Assault player aims to make as many of the opponent's cards or tactics useless, as possible, so that the opponent is not only kept on the defenseive, but even the resources they do acquire are far less help to them than they would generally like. For example, cards that help the Assault player when the opponent destroys them, such as the Mighty Shouter.

The reasoning behind this is similar to that of a Blitz user. If the creatures in an Assault deck cannot be controlled in some way, they will almost inevitably reach their goal of breaking all opposing shields, and counterattacks or Shield Trigger effects may not even be enough to stop this. The pool of cards that the opponent can use to stop the Assault forces dwindles each turn, especially if the cards they get from the broken shields are not highly effective in that matter either. The optimal scenario for the opponent is to swiftly gain both control and advantage, and hold it as well as they can.

Assault decks, like Blitz decks, often employ fewer spells, since their usual aim is simply having more creatures. In some cases, they put effort into having the 'correct' creatures through spells that search for cards or enable them to draw/revive cards. Spells that destroy blockers or raise the power of the creatures, as well as effects that minimize the effect of opposing Shield Triggers or hand gain, in any way, are highly valued by these players also.

Still, Assault can be built very badly, or played horribly, if incorrect decisions are made. There are a larger range of possible defenses that can be used against this deck type, and focusing all effort on becoming immune to one defensive tactic leaves holes in strategy that are easily exploited by others. Assault gives its opponent a hope for controlling its advance, but also limits the overall effectiveness of any defense. The player then does their best to further narrow the scope of 'effective counters' more and more as the game progresses until finally, if successful, only the most 'powerful' cards in the game can even hope to hold them off.

This type of deck often varies the number of shields it breaks, and the speed at which it breaks them, according to the opponent's abilities. This is combined with creatures who pose a threat, yet are difficult to remove, or dangerous to act against. Though Assault possesses the least power to prevent or hinder the opponent from achieving their win condition, the constant threat, combined with the ability to make that win condition increasingly specific as the duel progresses, is where the Assault Player takes their joy. Ranging from the use of Speed Attacking creatures that do not remain in play and therefore absolutely must be blocked or discarded, to creatures that cannot be blocked, even to creatures that cannot be attacked, their methods are greatly varied.

Assault's tendency to require extreme measures from the opponent may wear them out quickly, forcing them to expend far greater energy than the Assault player is using, and over time, this exhaustion can create the opening the Assault requires to make the final decisive moves. Even though this deck type may suffer when the hand is depleted or the mana zone is low, it is also the type most likely to be able to switfly make a comeback when both decks have been 'reduced' to exhaustion, or when the opponent has no choice but to forego defense and go for shields.

Assault is the survivalist tactic of this strategy game, focusing strongly on being difficult to control or defeat, even at the cost of both speed and destructive capacity of its own. If you are the type of player who enjoys ignoring the opponent's efforts or shrugging off their attempts to 'restrain' you, while marching ever forward to the victory goal through consistent attacking, you will feel right at home in a duel where the Assault deck is the one under your control.