There are some ideas you’d think Yu-Gi-Oh would do much more often. Ninjas occasionally receive support but don’t have any one powerful uniting theme. Thieves and cops remain without any major decks. But perhaps the most surprising is pirates. The game has only given us two pirate themes—one is Fur Hire, a deck which never quite achieved the heights they could have. The other is Plunder Patroll, a recently introduced archetype created by the American side of Yu-Gi-Oh.
The deck works off special summoning monsters from the extra deck based on monsters the opponent controls, which allows for quick and easy swarming. It’s a powerful deck with tons of potential, and these are the best cards from the archetype.
10 WHITEBEARD, THE PLUNDER PATROLL HELM
Whitebeard is key to the original strategy of the deck. During the opponent’s turn, Whitebeard can special summon a Plunder Patrolll monster from the extra deck with the same attribute as a monster the opponent controls or has in their graveyard. Then it equips itself to that monster. If Whitebeard is sent to the graveyard from the hand or as a monster, it can special summon another Plunder Patrolll monster from the deck, but it locks them into that for the remainder of the turn.
9 REDBEARD, THE PLUNDER PATROLL MATEY
Redbeard is a lot like Whitebeard, in that it can special summon a monster from the extra deck with the same attribute as a monster the opponent has on the field or in the graveyard. If it’s sent to the graveyard from the hand or field as a monster, the player can target a Plunder Patroll monster and equip Redbeard to it.
8 BLACKBEARD, THE PLUNDER PATROLL CAPTAIN
Though having a Link monster is a little late, it’s still nice to have one. Blackbeard has a quick effect that allows the player to target a monster they control, then special summon a Plunder Patrolll monster with the same attribute as a monster the opponent controls or is in their graveyard. Then they can equip Blackbeard to that monster and draw a card.
7 EMBLEM OF THE PLUNDER PATROLL
An equip spell, Emblem of the Plunder Patroll grants 500 ATK to any monster on the field, and makes them unable to be targeted with card effects.
Emblem can be sent to the graveyard to special summon a monster from the Extra Deck with the same attribute as a monster on the field or in the graveyard. This is a good way to go from a main deck monster to one of the Xyz, Fusion, or Link monsters on the field.
6 PLUNDER PATROLL BOOTY
This trap lets you declare an Attribute, then make a monster the opponent controls become that Attribute for the turn. Not only that, but they can take a Plunder Patroll monster in the grave and either shuffle it into the deck or special summon it. The player can use this pretty much every turn, but if they don’t control a Plunder Patrolll monster they have to send this card to the graveyard in the End Phase.
5 PLUNDER PATROLL SHIPYARRD
The field spell allows Plunder Patrolll monsters to gain 500 ATK for every Plunder Patrolll monster in the spell and trap card zone. Then, the player can discard a card to add a Plunder Patrolll from their deck to the hand. If it’s in the graveyard, the player can re-set this card by targeting another Plunder Patrolll card in the spell and trap zone, returning it to hand.
4 PLUNDER PATROLLSHIP BRANN
Brann gives every Fiend monster the player controls 500 ATK. Brann let’s the player discard a Plunder Patroll card to banish spells and traps the opponent controls, then add a Plunder Patroll from the deck to the hand. If it’s equipped with a Plunder Patroll card, the effect can be activated during either player’s turn, which is particularly disgusting.
3 PLUNDER PATROLLSHIP MOERK
The deck’s Xyz monster, you’ll probably never make this the normal way. It’s made up with two level four monsters. The player can discard a Plunder Patroll to target an Effect Monster of the opponent’s and banish it.
Then, they get to grab a Plunder Patroll spell or trap from their deck to the hand. If it does have materials though, the player gets to dodge destruction by battle or card effect by detaching a material to protect it.
2 GOLDENHAIR, THE NEWEST PLUNDER PATROLL
Goldenhair sends a Plunder Patroll monster from the hand or the field to the graveyard to special summon itself. Then, even if it goes to the graveyard, Goldenhair can discard a card to special summon itself, though this locks the player into Plunder Patroll monsters for the remainder of the turn. Still, it doesn’t banish itself to bring itself back, and it’s a tuner, so this is a great card all around.
1 PLUNDER PATROLLSHIP LYS
Lys allows the player to summon a Plunder Patroll monster from their hand or face-up spell and trap card zone, making up for all the ones that get equipped to monsters. Then, it can negate a monster effect by discarding a Plunder Patroll monster. That’s neat enough, but it gains an additional effect for negating if it’s equipped with a Plunder Patroll card: it can search out another Plunder Patroll monster and add it from the deck to the hand. This gives the player fodder for the following turn.