Our guide to the best decks in Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel
Looking for the best meta decks in Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel?Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duelthrows you in at the deep end with lots to learn if you’re a newcomer, but thestarter decksandstructure decksshould help you grasp the many mechanics. Once you have an understanding of thebest staple cardsto have in your deck, it’s time to make your own deck. This might feel overwhelming, as Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel continues to add more cards and packs to collect, but we’re here to help you discover the best meta decks in Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel.
Below, we’ll cover the 6 best meta decks in Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel and also explain 3 rogue decks that we think you should try. Whether you’re jumping into one of Master Duel’s themed festivals or just playing in the ranked battles online, these meta decks will give you the potential to win against any opponent.
Zoodiac Tri-Brigade
Tri-Brigade Zoodiac is currently the best meta deck in Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel. The biggest reason behind this deck’s success is due to the compatibility between the two archetypes.
The strength of Zoodiac cards like Zoodiac Broadbull in the original physical TCG led to the monster being banned in the currentforbidden and limited listfor Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel, a move that limits the consistency of a deck made up solely of Zoodiac monsters. By using a small Zoodiac engine within a deck made primarily of Tri-Brigade monsters, you can take advantage of the strength of Zoodiac search capabilities and access powerful Zoodiac XYZ monsters likeZoodiac Drident, while benefitting from the powerful Link Monsters and consistency of Tri-Brigade.
Cards likeFire Formation - Tenkican search for either the Tri-Brigade or Zoodiac monsters likeTri-Brigade Fraktall, a key monster in the deck that can allow you to sendTri-Brigade Kittto the graveyard. Doing so will engineer combos that allow you to sendTri-Brigade Nervallto the graveyard, from there adding another Fraktall that can be added to the hand and normal summoned. You can then activate its on-field effect to banish graveyard monsters to summonTri-Brigade Bearbrummfrom the Extra Deck and contine building your board.
While the deck can be countered by common staple cards, including hand traps like Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring and Nibiru, it is possible to continue playing through these negations and build a board that can allow you time to rebuild for the following turn. Also, for those playing Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel on a budget, many Tri-Brigade cards are lower rarities, making this one of the best meta decks for free-to-play users as key cards are easier tocraftorpull from booster packs.
For the best chance of pulling the cards you need, you’ll want to pull cards from the Echo Chamber Nation (for Tri-Brigade) and Those Who Stand Against Kings (for Zoodiac) secret booster packs.
Check out our deck profile and combo guide forZoodiac Tri-Brigade.
The strength of the Synchro-based Adamancipator deck comes from its excavation abilities. The main gimmick of the deck allows you to reveal cards from the top of your deck and special summon non-Tuner Rock monsters to the field, in turn helping you quickly cycle into powerful Synchro Monsters from a single Adamancipator Tuner.
The core of the deck comes from the trio of main Adamancipator monsters, those beingAdamancipator Researcher, Adamancipator Seeker, andAdamancipator Analyzer. Each of these cards have identical effects that allow them to special summon themselves if another Rock monster is on the field, with the once-per-turn effect to excavate the top 5 cards of your deck and Special Summon a non-tuner level 4 or lower Rock monster to the field.
Improving the deck’s consistency isBlock Dragon, which also has the additional benefit of protecting Rock monsters on the field from being destroyed by card effects.
On top of the Adamancipator monsters is the inclusion of generic level 4 or lower rock monsters that can be used as fodder for Block Dragon and Synchro Summons, many of which are low rarity. Cards likeDoki Dokiare useful for searching for Adamancipators, while even spells likeFoolish Burialare useful as a way to send unnecessary Rock monsters from the Deck to the Graveyard to assist in summoning Block Dragon as fast as possible.
This is on top of the deck being able to access a number of powerful generic XYZ, Link and Synchro monsters on top of Adamancipator Synchros, offering consistency and search capabilities inGallant Graniteand powerful negation inApollousa, Bow of the Goddess. Bar some of the Extra Deck monsters and staple cards, much of the deck is also low-rarity, a boost for players on a budget.
Check out our deck profile and combo guide forAdamancipator.
Lyrilusc Tri-Brigade also uses the power of the Tri-Brigade engine to quickly bring out powerful link monsters like Bearbrumm, but is less reliant on Tri-Brigade monsters than the Zoodiac variant. Indeed, your typical Lyrilusc Tri-Brigade deck will run fewer Tri-Brigade monsters in order to make room for more Lyrilusc spells, traps and monsters. Tri-Brigade monsters are more effectively used within this deck as additional support for your Lyrilusc strategies.
Part of what makes these archetypes synergise effectively is the fact thatLyrilusc - Cobalt Sparrow’seffect can also be used to search for Tri-Brigade monsters. One key opening-turn strategy would be to Special SummonLyrilusc - Turquoise Warbler(by controlling no monsters) in order to use its effect to Special SummonCobaltSparrow. From here, you can add Tri-Brigade Nervall from your deck to your hand. After XYZ summoningLyrilusc - Recital Starlingyou can activate its effect to search for another Lyrilusc monster, providing the graveyard material necessary to activate Nervall’s effect.
The strategy for victory with Lyrilusc Tri-Brigade relies heavily on accessing your versatile Lyrilusc XYZ monsters (which can be potentially built upon withDivine Arsenal AA-Zeus - Sky Thunder), complimenting this with the various Tri-Brigade Link monsters that can be summoned to your Extra Monster Zone.
It’s this ability to both XYZ and Link summon Lyrilusc and Tri-Brigade monsters within the same turn that make this a strong meta deck. Also, thanks to many Lyrilusc cards being low rarity in Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel, building this meta deck is relatively easy compared to other high-tier decks.
For the best chance of pulling the cards you need, you’ll want to pull cards from the Echo Chamber Nation (for Tri-Brigade) and Moonlit Avian Dance (for Lyrilusc) secret booster packs.
Check out our deck profile and combo guide forLyrilusc Tri-Brigade.
Virtual World decks are strong thanks to their ability to accessTrue King of All Calamities. This is a powerful 3000ATK XYZ monster with the ability to declare an attribute, change all face-up monsters to that attribute, then negate the effects and prevent your opponent from attacking with monsters that share this attribute.
Thus, the aim of this deck is to use Virtual World tuners likeVirtual World Roshi - LaolaoandVirtual World Mai-Hime - Luluto summon multiple level 9 Synchro monsters that can allow you to access this near-unstoppable boss monster. Also note thatVirtual World Hime - Nyannyan’seffect can allow it to become a tuner if Special Summoned to the field, as a result of being in your graveyard when a level 3 monster is Normal or Special Summoned to the field.
Cards likeEmergency Teleportare particularly useful in this deck since many Virtual World monsters are level 3 Psychics.Foolish Burial Groundsis a useful way of sending cards likeVirtual World Gate - Qinglongto the graveyard, whose effect allows it to be banished in order to add a Virtual World Monster from your deck to your hand.
Provided you can play through attempts by your opponent to negate effects on the way to summoning True King through additional Synchro and XYZ summons, Virtual World decks are difficult to defeat.
For the best chance of pulling the cards you need, you’ll want to pull cards from the Cyber City Guardians secret booster pack.
Check out our deck profile and combo guide forVirtual World.
The reason Eldlich is one of the best decks in the current Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel meta is their ability to negate and shut down the special summon-heavy strategies used by many of the other popular and powerful decks of the current format. This is thanks to the effect ofEldlich the Golden Lord, the central boss monster of the deck.
Despite being a 2500 attack monster, you can easily summon Eldlich the Grand Lord by sending this card and one Spell or Trap card from your hand to the GY; then targeting one card on the field and sending it to the graveyard. If the card is in the graveyard, you can send a spell or trap card you control to the graveyard in order to add this card back to your hand, and then Special Summon one Zombie monster from your hand. You can use this effect to Special Summon itself (Eldlich is a Zombie), and if you Special Summon the card this way it gains 1000 attack and defense and can’t be destroyed by card effects until the end of your opponent’s turn.
The aim of the deck is to summon Eldlich as fast as possible, then prevent your opponent from removing it. This can involve stopping your opponent’s strategies using cards likeSkill Drain, usingLava Golemto tribute monsters your opponent controls to remove annoying monsters they control, and other powerful negation cards likeImperial OrderandSolemn Judgement. This control deck is the best deck to counter decks like Virtual World and Tri-Brigade.
For the best chance of pulling the cards you need, you’ll want to pull cards from the Immortal Reality secret booster pack.
Check out our deck profile and combo guide forEldlich.
Sky Striker is a deck that relies heavily on Link Summoning, accessing powerful cards likeSky Striker Ace - Kagiriand generic Link Monsters likeAccesscode Talker.
This deck is effective thanks to its ability to play through negations provided you have the right materials. This is because decks typically run multiple cards likeSky Striker Mobilize - Engageand heavy draw cards like Pot of Desires and Upstart Goblin in order to access your key Sky Striker monsters likeSky Striker Ace - Raye. This is also a deck that runs very few monsters, thanks to many Sky Striker spell cards having effects or secondary effects that rely on having no monsters in the Main Monster Zones or having three or more Spell Cards in your graveyard.
Sky Striker Ace - Raye is one of the few main deck monsters you’ll run that aren’t hand traps like Ash Blosson & Joyous Spring, and will be used to access the many link monsters in your deck. Accessing these monsters is key for victory, with Sky Striker Ace - Kagari allowing you to recycle spell cards, andSky Striker Ace - Shizukuallowing you to search out Sky Striker spell cards from the deck.
Balancing spell cards in your graveyard, accessing you Sky Striker Extra Deck monsters and utilizing the effect of Accesscode Talker to increase its attack are all crucial to victory with Sky Strikers.
For the best chance of pulling the cards you need, you’ll want to pull cards from the Singular Strike Overthrow secret booster pack.
Tri-Brigade, Virtual World, Sky Striker and Eldlich are the best meta decks in Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel, but that does not mean these are the only decks you should use. Rogue decks are less popular decks that nevertheless have the potential to win, either by being able to circumvent pesky negation strategies used by your opponent, or by being less familiar to your opponent. Opponents may not know the best ways to counter less familiar decks, giving you the element of surprise in a duel.
Drytron is a deck that sits on the verge of being a meta deck thanks to its strong ability to repeatedly negate and stop your opponent’s plays using cards likeHerald of Ultimateness. But it can be inconsistent if you don’t draw the correct cards in your opening hand. It’s also one of the more expensive decks to currently build, making them less accessible than other, more mainstream decks.
PrankKids, on the other hand, consist primarily of N and R rarity cards for its primary strategies, with only extra deck, staple and support cards being of higher rarity. The deck relies on powerful fusion summon cards likePrank-Kids Battle ButlerandPrank-Kids Weather Washer. These have quick effects that allow them to act both defensively to protect your own life points, or offensively by destroying all your opponent’s monsters depending on the scenario.
Madolche is a unique dessert pun-based deck whose monsters are shuffled into the graveyard if sent via battle or card effect. Combined with support spell cards likeMadolche Ticket, Madolche Salon, Madolche Chateau, andMadolche Promenade, the ability to cycle cards between different areas of the playing area can activate effects that allow many monsters to be special summoned in a single turn.Madolche Queen Tiaramisu’seffect can shuffle opposing cards and monsters into the deck without targeting them, removing them from play without activating their effects by targeting or sending them to the graveyard. However, this deck is also one of the more expensive decks to build.
This guide ignores other rogue decks that counter meta decks while using their own unique strategies like Cyber Dragon, Traptrix, @Ignister, and more. Each has their own place at high level play with full mastery of their intricacies, so while there may be better decks within the game, don’t be afraid to play something different if you think it looks interesting and fun.
That’s everything you need to know about the best meta decks in Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel. These decks contain some of the best cards in Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel, but you’ll need to be familiar with a few key mechanics before using them. If you want to use these meta decks, make sure you understand how to summonSynchro monsters,XYZ monsters, andLink monstersin Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel.
