Fear!

Fear!!!

Fear!!!!!

My... I have no idea.

I guess going over the fear factor would be good for today.

Fear is often caused by certain cards in the card pool, some deck-specific, some not, which can have catastrophic effects on a player's position in a duel if they don't take extra caution around said cards. The cards I'm primarily talking about are so potent, in fact, that decisions are influenced even if the card might not currently be in play or accessible.

"Mirror Force" makes it dangerous to attack when you have 2+ monsters capable of doing so.

"Torrential Tribute" makes it dangerous to summon a monster, especially if your opponent controls none.

"Heavy Storm" makes it dangerous to set multiple spell and trap cards that aren't immediately able to be chained or able to defend themselves and others.

"Icarus Attack" can strip away any two cards at will.

"Gladiator Beast Gyzarus" can do this too.

"Brain Control" might kill you if you summon a large enough monster late in the game.

"Starlight Road" punishes mass destruction with a very steep swing in tempo.

There are many more examples I could make, but it's important to not to lose your head over the possibility of one of these cards being played. They aren't to be ignored, of course; plan for the worst.

If Icarus seems imminent, play one card at a time, preferably one that can run over their lone Blackwing, so that if they want to destroy your card, they'd have to get rid of one of their own. Playing multiple cards is fine too so long as one or more of them reimburse you when destroyed, ala "Card Trooper" or "Sangan." You'll likely win the advantage race, and subsequently the game.

If Starlight might be down, don't derp derp that "Heavy Storm" of yours. Wait until you can ensure its effect goes off safely, usually by picking off Starlight first.

If Brain is out and about, don't play your strongest monsters. Play the ones that aren't desirable to steal. If you can, knock your opponent's life points to the 800 threshold to make Brain useless.

If Mirror rears its head, turn your most important monsters to defense position before entering your battle phase to lessen the effect Mirror might have.

If Torrential wants to ruin your day, summon your self-replacing monsters, or set those that might be helpful, like Ryko.

...yeah, it just goes on like this. Every card has its blind spots. If you take note of those weaknesses and use the proper evasive measures, you'll be in good shape.

Though it's pretty hard to trump a "Stardust Dragon" backed by "Solemn Judgment" and more no matter what you do.