The term “hand trap” is quite possibly one of the strangest to appear in the game over recent years. To a player that left after the original series, or even in GX, it might not even make sense. It’s not a proper term—it’s an unofficial one referring to monsters that can activate effects in hand that can be used during the opponent’s turn, often disrupting the opponent’s plays, sometimes to the point of ending their turns.

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These cards have taken up popularity in the last four years because players don’t have to set them, meaning they can avoid all the spell/trap removal that’s become so prevalent as the game has grown. This list looks at the very best hand traps in Yu-Gi-Oh, talking about what they do and what makes them so amazing.

Updated December 23nd, 2020 by Johnny Garcia: Yu-Gi-Oh! is perhaps one of the most active card games out there. There are constantly new sets and cards being released on a near-monthly basis, with hundreds of cards being released every year. Every format of the game changes the viability of hand traps, with some improving and others falling off. The recent ban list has nerfed decks that didn't care for hand traps, and have put them into the metagame once again. Since Called By The Grave is limited as well, hand traps are as strong as they've ever been. Hand traps have always been relevant since their introduction, and will likely always be in the meta.

15 SKULL MEISTER

skull meister card art and text

Skull Meister is a card that hasn't seen many printings, only appearing in a Special Edition and Structure Deck outside of its first appearance in the Starstrike Blast set. Skull Meister can discard itself from the hand to negate any card effect that's activated in the opponent's Graveyard.

This isn't limited to monsters either, meaning it can negate spell and trap cards with Graveyard effects as well. Skull Meister is incredibly versatile and has been in and out of the meta for years, depending on how many Graveyard heavy decks are in it.

14 DIMENSION SHIFTER

dimension shifter card art and text

The Gold Sarcophagus Tin was a game-changer when it was released, with three world premiere cards coming into the game. Dimension Shifter was one of these, though overshadowed by Nibiru, The Primal Being and Dark Ruler No More.

Make no mistake though, Dimension Shifter is a fantastic card. If a player has no cards in their Graveyard, then they can discard it so that any card sent to the Graveyard is banished instead. If the opponent's deck relies on cards to get in the Graveyard, this can put a complete halt on their turn. Decks like Thunder Dragon can even use the effect to their own advantage as well.

13 RED REBOOT

red reboot card art and text

Red Reboot is a more literal hand trap, as it's a trap card that at the cost of half its user's life points, can be activated from the hand. Not only that, but Red Reboot is a counter trap card, meaning that only other counter trap cards can react to it.

Red Reboot negates the activation of a trap card and sets it again, and allows the opponent to set another trap from their deck. The trade-off is that they can't activate any trap cards for the rest of that turn. Since Yu-Gi-Oh! is so fast, this trap-less turn can lead to a victory.

12 FANTASTICAL DRAGON PHANTAZMAY

fantastical dragon phantazmay card art and text

Fantastical Dragon Phantazmay has been in and out of the metagame since its release in 2019's Savage Strike set. When the opponent Special Summons a Link Monster(s), Fantastical Dragon Phantazmay can be summoned. Then, it allows its user to draw cards equal to the number of Link Monsters the opponent controls (and an additional card), then shuffles back cards equal to the Link Monster total on the opponent's field.

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This allows a mulligan and can get its user to more interruption to play on the opponent's turn. It also has a solid effect to discard a card and negates any effect that targets a monster for extra protection.

11 GHOST BELLE & HAUNTED MANSION

ghsot belle and haunted mansion card art and text

Ghost Belle & Haunted Mansion is a hand trap that is often forgotten, and one of the most underrated ones in the game. It's a card that keeps things in the graveyard. When the opponent activates a card or effect that moves any card from the graveyard to anywhere else, Ghost Belle & Haunted Mansion can be discarded to negate that effect.

It's a very solid effect, with the only downside being it negates the activation rather than the effect itself. Nonetheless, this can shut down plenty of strategies that rely on summoning monsters from out the Graveyard, something that's very common in the current game.

10 D.D. CROW

d.d. crow card art and text

One of the more straightforward hand traps, D.D. Crow has actually been around for longer than all the Extra Deck shenanigans which turned it into such a prevalent card. Released in 2007’s Strike of Neos set, D.D. Crow has a quick effect that can be activated during either player’s turn, discarding itself to the graveyard to target a card in the opponent’s graveyard and banish it.

This card often plays a key part in stopping a player’s strategy in its tracks, banishing a card they might otherwise need. It’s this which has led to the card becoming a part of so many side decks throughout the years.

9 EFFECT VEILER

effect veiler card art and text

One of the oldest hand traps in existence. In certain formats starting with the Xyz Era, there was a time where this was an absolute must-have at three copies. And why not? It can shut down an opponent’s turn entirely when played at the right moment.

It can be sent to the graveyard to target an effect monster on the field and negate its effect during the opponent’s main phase. What made it fall out of favor was being unusable at any point other than the opponent’s main phase, meaning it couldn’t stop effects that activated during the player’s turn. However, that still doesn’t stop it from being a superb budget option.

8 NIBIRU, THE PRIMAL BEING

nibiru the primal being card art and text

Ever get tired of watching a combo deck’s play go on forever? Watching them summon through monster after monster while they build up some stupid board that’s impossible to get over? Enter, Nibiru, the Primal Being--the ultimate destruction.

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When the opponent normal or special summons five or more monsters in a turn, the player can tribute all monsters on the field to special summon Nibiru from hand, then special summon a Primal Being Token to the opponent’s field. The downside of Nibiru is that the token it summons has the combined attack of all the monsters tributed to summon it, so the player better have a way to get rid of that token once it comes out.

7 ARTIFACT LANCEA

artifact lancea card art and text

The easiest way to shut down opponents that rely on banishing to make their deck work, like Kozmos and Infernoids. Artifact Lancea is supposed to be an Artifact but feels more like it existed to be a side deck card.

After all, it doesn’t need anyone to destroy it to activate its effect. It can simply be tributed from the hand (or face-up field) to stop both players from banishing cards for the turn.

6 DROLL & LOCK BIRD

droll and lock bird card art and text

It took players a while to realize how great Droll & Lock Bird actually was. It came out as a rare in the 2010 set Starstrike Blast and people didn’t pay attention to it...until it was used, then suddenly everyone realized Starstrike Blast cards rarely ever got reprints, sending this simple rare through the roof.

Droll & Lock Bird activates when the opponent adds a card from the main deck to the hand outside the draw phase. By sending it to the grave, the opponent has to stop adding cards to their hand for the remainder of the turn, locking them out of any neat combos they had planned.

5 PSY-FRAMEGEAR GAMMA

psyframe gamma card art and text

The Psy-Frames could have been a nightmare if they were remotely consistent. Their Psy-Framegears negated everything and Omega banished cards from the opponent’s hand just for having them.

In any case, though it requires a player to have a Psy-Frame Driver in their deck, Gamma could negate a monster effect activated by the opponent while the player controlled no cards. Even better? It special summoned itself and Psy-Frame Driver for doing so, giving the player some instantaneous board presence and access to Psy-Framelord Omega.

4 GHOST REAPER & WINTER CHERRIES

ghost reaper and winter cherries card art and text

Fortunately, this card was released after all the non-Extra Deck reliant decks (Kozmo, Monarchs, Nekroz) had mostly started to exit the meta. The ultimate side deck card, Ghost Reaper and Winter Cherries punishes players who rely too heavily on their Extra Deck.

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By discarding this card, a player can reveal one monster in their Extra Deck, look at their opponent’s Extra Deck and banish all cards with the same name as the one they revealed. This card single-handedly shut down any deck that relied on a single boss monster, like the ABC-Dragon Buster released a few months after this card came out.

3 GHOST OGRE & SNOW RABBIT

ghost ogre and snow rabbit card art and text

The first of the ghost girl cards to be released, Ghost Ogre became a staple alongside Effect Veiler rather quickly. However, there’s a big difference between Ghost Ogre and Effect Veiler. Ghost Ogre does not negate, but rather sends itself from the hand or the field to the grave to destroy a monster, spell, or trap card after it activates its effect.

The effect still goes through….it’s just that’s the last time it gets to happen, because afterward the card is destroyed. An important distinction, though the card remains $3 despite six different reprints aside from the original version.

2 INFINITE IMPERMENANCE

infinite impermanence card art and text

Yes, this is supposed to be a “real” trap, but it can be activated from the hand so it absolutely still counts. Infinite Impermanence targets one monster on the field the opponent controls and negates its effect until the end of the turn.

It can be activated from the hand if the player controls no cards, meaning it can be activated by a player going second while the player going first is going off in their combo. When set it also has a bonus effect of negating spell and trap effects of any spell/trap cards activated in the same column, essentially rendering that zone useless for the remainder of the turn. No wonder it’s going for $50.

1 ASH BLOSSOM & JOYOUS SPRING

ash blossom and joyous spring card art and text

Our big-head queen remains on her throne. Ash Blossom activates under so many circumstances, because it literally hits everything modern decks do: adding cards from the deck to the hand, special summoning from the deck, and sending cards from the deck to the graveyard.

It’s no wonder that no matter how many times they reprint her, her price still won’t drop below six dollars a copy. She’s been printed as a common in Structure Decks...and they just raised the cost of the structure deck. It just feels like no matter when we see her, players can’t seem to hoard enough copies, because a well-timed Ash Blossom can stop a player’s entire turn.

NEXT: Yu-Gi-Oh!: Most Powerful LINK Monsters