Playing better

It has been only about 7 or so months ago when I started yugioh. And damn is this serious business. I had a lot of misconceptions about playing. How to play and how easy it was. The game has turned out to be a lot more difficult than I had imagined, but everyday I constantly strive to get better. Here is what I do to get better (though I am pretty sure everyone does);

I run through my deck
Not just once or twice, but like a million times. I have memorized every card in my deck and what situation can arise.

I playtest with sides
Very underrated. Siding is more important if not as important as the main deck. This could turn game 1 loss, to a game 2 and 3 match win. Though I don't usually side in when I play casually against friends.

Read up on latest news
I try to follow what is current in today's Meta, what changes and release that will affect the game.

Play slowly
Being able to think your moves through before swarming the field with monsters and synchros is crucial. You don't want to be greedy and leave yourself open to your opponents’ godly top deck. Though I am still working on this, I have significantly slowed down my pace from when I started. And thus, I have started to think about every play and about all my opponents’ outs.

Play Play Play
Even playing alone is more beneficial than not playing. Find someone and playtest. You never know how well your deck would do, if you never played it against anyone.

Read Rulings
You don't want to be that guy who says, "What's priority?" Or says "I thought you can oppression Gorz". It also lets you understand your cards better and it allows you to get a better sense of why this card is ran and how it is ran.

This is only a portion of what I do, but these are probably the most beneficial to me. Trust me, I do everything from read blogs, to forums, watch videos and even write blogs.....