Card advantage

Card Advantage is a way of referring to how profitable cards are when they are played, in terms of how many cards you have before, and after they are played. When discussing card advantage, ratios are usually brought up, with the greater number of cards you have either before or after the card is played determining if the card gains you advantage, and how much. Advantage is also broken down into types, depending on from where the advantage will take place (hand, field, etc.). For instance, Pot of Greed is considered a +1 hand advantage, as you're trading in one card for two, thus gaining a net total of 1 card.

However, this type of rationing has become a minor point of debate among duelist; specifically, whether or not the card being played should itself be counted as part of the advantage ratio. Proponents argue yes, as it is still a card under your control, and once it's played, you don't have access to it again, thus shortening the number of cards to take advantage of. Opponents, however, argue that you cannot gain the advantage of a card without playing it, and that whatever advantage you gain from it could make up for the played card's loss. Ironically, life points don't even come into the argument, as more and more duelists gain the mentality that they are mostly expendable (even though they are essential to staying in the game), and paying life points as a cost for a card is more acceptable than discarding a potentially life-saving card for that same activation.