Yu-Gi-Oh is more popular than ever. While the anime is no longer following the main game in favor of a completely different version of Yu-Gi-Oh, the franchise is still going strong. The popularity of the franchise has been bolstered by the wild success of Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel, as well as 2000s nostalgia kicking in for people.
Players who are trying to get back into the game might be looking for cards they can sneak into any deck. These staple cards will do the player good by fitting into any deck they're trying to build and allowing them to handle any problems that might come up, regardless of their opponent.
10 Gameciel Can Remove Nearly Any Monster
Gameciel isn’t the best option to get rid of the opponent’s monsters these days, but it’s never a bad one. Its ability is to special summon itself to the opponent’s side of the field by tributing one of their monsters. This is valuable to get an opponent’s giant boss monster away from the field. The reason it works involves some tricky card game logic: in Yu-Gi-Oh costs are paid before effects can activate. Gameciel's tribute summon could be negated, but by the time that happens the monster the player would be protecting is already gone because the cost to summon Gameciel was sending the monster to the graveyard. Gameciel works on every monster except those that can’t be tributed.
9 Cosmic Cyclone Is Great To Deal With Spells And Traps
There was a time when Mystical Space Typhoon got the job done and was run in every deck. Those days have passed. Now, there are spell cards and trap cards that gain effects if destroyed, making them a nuisance. But Cosmic Cyclone doesn’t destroy those cards, it banishes them. It costs 1000 life points, but for spells and traps that are crucial for the opponent’s deck, it's worth it. Players just want them gone, and it serves as a quick-play so it can be activated every turn.
8 Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring Is Infinitely Versatile
Ash Blossom isn’t as powerful as it once was, but it’s still an incredible card. With a single card, the player can stop the opponent from adding cards from their deck to the hand, special summoning from the deck, or sending a card from the deck to the graveyard.
This is how most decks start their combos and make plays. A well-timed Ash Blossom can shut down an opponent’s turn. But with decks these days having more gas than ever, the player has to know exactly when to play it.
7 Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit Can Destroy Effect Monsters
Ghost Ogre was the first of these ghost girl hand traps, and she’s still as good now as she was back then. Ghost Ogre can destroy a monster that is activating its attack, as well as stop a spell or trap already face-up on the field doing the same. The important thing to remember with Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit is that it only destroys whatever it is, it doesn’t stop the effect. Proper placement here is crucial to maximize the player’s chances at victory.
6 Effect Veiler Stops Effects Completely
Effect Veiler was one of the earliest hand traps that got big. At the time, what made it work so well was how unique it was. The card could be played at any point during the opponent’s main phase, and it instantly negated a monster effect. When it was released, this could easily stop a turn cold. These days it requires a bit more knowledge to know when to play it, but in the right hands, it’s as good as any of the other hand trap monsters. It’s also a spellcaster tuner, so players can use this to make Accesscode Talker.
5 Droll & Lock Bird Stops A Deck From Searching
Droll & Lock Bird is an example of how Yu-Gi-Oh has gotten out of control. At one point, the card had limited usage. It stopped the opponent from searching after their first search, which meant the first search would go through. These days, decks will search multiple cards a turn to build out the field they need to win the game. Droll cuts this option off, meaning they have to make their turn work with only one additional card. It’s not a surprise the cost of this card skyrocketed from when Konami released it during the Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s era.
4 Forbidden Droplet Can Stop All The Opponent's Cards
Forbidden Droplet is one of the many cards needed to slow down an opponent’s board in modern Yu-Gi-Oh!. By sending cards to the graveyard from the field or hand, the player can negate their opponent’s effect monsters and halve their attack.
In addition, depending on what cards the player sends in terms of monsters, spells, and traps, the opponent can’t even respond. This makes Forbidden Droplet a great option for blowing through “break my board” decks.
3 Dark Ruler No More Is The Best Board Breaker
Dark Ruler No More is the ultimate board-breaking card. As more and more decks rely on building a board with multiple monsters that can all negate something, people need something just to play. Dark Ruler No More negates all the opponent’s face-up monsters for the remainder of the turn. But what makes this card so special is that no one can activate monster effects in response, meaning this card will definitely go through. True, the opponent doesn’t take damage that turn, but negating their monsters is well worth the price.
2 Called by the Grave Stops Hand Traps
Many of the best cards these days are hand traps. They exist to stop or slow the opponent down during their own turn. They’re not like actual traps, which have to be set for a turn either—they’re instantly playable. But this can feel unfair on the other side too. Hand traps can end the player’s turn and let the opponent do whatever they want on their own. Called by the Grave balances this out. It’s a quick-play spell that can banish a monster from the graveyard, negating its effect. This can stop a hand trap cold, and it’s negated for the remainder of the turn as well.
1 Pot of Desires Gets Players Much-Needed Cards
Everyone remembers the Pot of Greed memes, the card that allowed Yugi to draw two cards for no reason. This card’s been banned for years, because in a game where cards are the only resource, a random +1 is generally considered banworthy. Konami has tried several ways to balance this out, but the most popular one has been Pot of Desires. Sure, they have to banish the top ten cards of their deck to draw two cards. But that thins the deck and grants the player the two cards they were looking for, so what’s the problem?