New Forbidden Memories Any% Route

To be used for sub 3/3:30 attempts, and potentially World Record attempts.

- Start with AT LEAST 2 Dragons and 1 Thunder or 1 Dragon and 2 Thunders
- Take more Raigeki decks, reset more Dark Hole decks
- Leave Farm #1 at 5/4 or a strong 4/4. Reset if above 40 minutes and cannot meet the criteria
- Skip saving for Weevil through Bakura if really strong deck
- Go to Farm 2 after beating Mage Soldier in Campaign
- If no Dragon Treasure or Dark Energy drop before 2:30, RESET
- Generally avoid buying Dragons, buy Thunders instead, you want to have at least 7
- If you get a Trap at any point, A-TEC Pegasus until 2:30
- Potentially skip Seto 2nd if trouble with other Mages. If you do it and lose to Seto 2nd once, skip him and do Final 7
- Generally should enter Final 7 at around 2:35-3:05. First/second try = Sub 3-3:30

Final decks should generally look like this:
- 10 Dragons, 8 Thunders, 2 Equips, 2/3 Umis
- 9 Dragons, 7 Thunders, 3 Equips, 3 Umis
- 9 Dragons, 7 Thunders, 2 Equips, 2 Umis, 1 Widespread Ruin
- 9 Dragons, 7 Thunders, 1 Equip, 2 Umis, 1 Megamorph
- 10 Dragons, 7 Thunders, 1 Equip, 1 Umi, 1 Widespread Ruin, 1 DCJ, 1 Megamorph

Starting with more Dragons is the key factor to your Initial Deck. The main reason why you want to start with at least 2 is because if you have enough other materials in there such as Machines, Plants and Rocks, you will usually end up getting 4-turn Duels in Farming. Sure, it can take a while to reset until you get a really good deck, but getting a really good Initial Deck makes farming much more efficient and allows you to leave at a much faster pace once you have everything you need.

Another reason why you want at least a Thunder is because you will be spending your starchips only on Thunders and nothing more (if you're at a critical situation, you would have to buy Umi as well). Buying Dragons is generally a bad idea because there is a chance you might end up getting a 4th Dragon copy of the one you bought (normally Yamatano or Petit) and you waste starchips.

Farming Rex or DMK is nothing new -- I generally leave farming after around the 40 minute mark and then go through the World Tournament because I know my deck now has a confident enough win rate against everyone in WT. That being said, when going for a good time, you now have to look at the value of your deck and if it's good enough to move on from Farm 1. This is now where early resetting comes into play.

Normally, DMK drops a lot of Thunders while Rex drops Crawling Dragon #2. If you have at least 4 Dragons before you have 4 Thunders, then it's better to go to DMK. Even if you don't win any Dragons or Thunders just yet, it's better to take out all the useless monsters (Fiends/Insects). However, the main reason why you want a good Dragon/Thunder count early on is because you can almost consistently B-POW the people you normally farm in Farm 2 (Pegasus, Isis, Kaiba, Mage Soldier).

The best farming spot, however, is Pegasus. Pegasus can drop Acid Trap Hole at a high rate much like with Umi -- which saves 55 Starchips and gives you the option to buy 2 Thunders instead. Not only that, but with Acid Trap Hole you can A-TEC him repeatedly for good drops. (His chance of dropping a good Equip on A-TEC is 164/2048 -- Dragon Treasure being a 36 and Bright Castle/Megamorph being 64, so about 8%). The same applies to Oscillo Hero #2, which is an 80/2048 chance on BCD -- essentially 4%, and as it is a Thunder, it will significantly help with your Dragon count. All of his duels are mostly clean because even if he starts Bickuribox, Flower Wolf & Dark Witch can take it out with Sun. And unlike Isis' 30k Turtle, you can force Pegasus into attacking with Illusionist Faceless Mage, or just clear it out with something like Queen of Autumn Leaves or Metal Dragon. As long as he doesn't lead MBD, you should normally have no problems. If you let Pegasus fuse it will generally be something like a Crimson Sunbird or sparsely Flame Cerebrus, but those are fine as Dark Witch, B. Dragon Jungle King, Kairyu-shin, Sea King Dragon and Pumpking the King of Ghosts all have Neptune and wall them.

Isis can drop Widespread Ruin, although the chances of one are twice as less as Pegasus dropping Acid Trap Hole. That being said -- if you haven't won an Equip yet, but won a Trap, then you have a good chance of winning the 2nd Equip and moving on. Again, both farming spots are generally clean as long as Isis doesn't play a B. Skull Dragon or Pegasus does not play Meteor B. Dragon, although Isis leading a B. Skull Dragon is slightly higher than Pegasus leading Meteor B. Dragon. Your win/loss rate during that farm should be around 35-40/3-5 combined.

Mage Soldier is a tricky one. Generally I do not recommend doing Mage Soldier at all unless you feel confident and think you CAN win Dark Energy. To not waste anymore time, I would recommend doing no more than 5 B-POWS. If he does drop a Dark Energy, try going up until maybe 10 Mage Soldier wins to see if you can get another Dark Energy (or at least a Dragon/Tripwire Beast), then go to another farming spot.

Kaiba is what is generally your last resort if you're desperate for Dragons or a Trap. Kaiba has about a 30% chance to drop Dragons -- the most out of anyone. Not only Dragons, but much like Pegasus, he also drops Acid Trap Hole at a high rate. And not only ATH, there is Dragon Capture Jar, a nice magic to get rid of any pestering Ultimates or MBDs. However, Kaiba is much more inconsistent to farm compared to Pegasus or Isis as he can lead either Blue-Eyes or the Uranus monsters with 3000 DEF. A-TECING Kaiba also is not TOO bad of an idea as it can give removals (notably Crush Card), or Bright Castle and Dark Energy.

At this point, once you see the final decks above, that is when you should go and try to beat the game. Yes, the win rate isn't as high (unless you get absurd luck and have both an MBD and Megamorph = 20% winrate, anyone?) - you will generally have a win rate around 1.5% to 7%, but if going for a good time, you aren't really left with a choice. You do NOT want to try to beat the game with only 1 Equip -- generally because the Final 7 consistently plays monsters within the 3000-4500 range, compared to the Mages where even a simple THTD can work. If you have 2/3, then you have a chance. Making a 3300 or even 3800 THTD is a necessity, otherwise you will 90% of the time lose to Heishin 2nd and later.

In the end -- again, just use your best judgment. This guide will mostly be successful for those who want a good time in the category and it will end up being a huge reward if you follow it. Hopefully this route makes Forbidden Memories more runnable and less of a challenge for those who want to try it. Good luck!