How to counter the Zoodiac Tri-Brigade deck in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel

One of the top meta decks for Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel right now is the Tri-Brigade decks, like Zoodiac Tri-Brigade. This powerful aggro deck can completely dominate matches with the greatest of ease, but it’s not always going to win on turn two, and there are most certainly some cards, decks, and spells that can stop it dead in its tracks.

While it’s a meta deck, no particular deck is unbeatable in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel is one of the reasons the game is so fun.

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What is the Zoodiac Tri-Brigade deck in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel

With the right cards in hand, a Zoodiac player in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel can deal critical damage in their opening turn. Starting with either Fraktall or Rescue Cat, it’s going to take a turn or two setting up the combo.

Shuraig is one of the final pieces of the puzzle, but players can stop it before it arrives (Image via Mrcat95/Deviantart)

Ultimately, it will put several cards in the graveyard, special summoning key cards in the combo. You can use this constant summoning combo deck to summon Shuraig and Access code Talker to OTK an opponent on turn two. This means other players need to find a way to stop this from getting too out of hand.

Stopping this comes down to the power of spells and trap cards. The backline is the key.

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What cards can be used to counter the Zoodiac Tri-Brigade?

In particular, Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel players will need several potential traps and spell cards to stop the combo. A player can use several possible cards to end this and easily slot into the deck.

One of the downsides of Master Duel is that all of the matches are best-of-one, so players have to consider slotting in a few important trap or spell cards. Here are some cards that can stall out Zoodiac Tri-Brigade.

Dimensional Fissure

Dimensional Fissure makes all monsters that would go to the graveyard immediately banished. This completely stops Kitt and Nervall’s graveyard effects and can slow the deck to a crawl, if not immediately stop it.

It's all about restricting what the other player can do (Image via Konami)

Gozen Match

Gozen Match prevents players from having more than one card of each monster type in play at once. This prevents Link Summons from ever triggering many decks, as long as the trap card is in play.

Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring

One of the best traps in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel, this card is played from the player’s hand. It is used to negate the effects of a card when it comes into play, and if timed right, ends the whole Zoo-Brigade combo. Ghost Belle & Haunted Mansion has a similar function and can be used the same way to stall out combos.

Necrovalley

Necrovalley is similar to Dimensional Fissure, but also quite different. It prevents cards in the graveyard from going anywhere else and prevents them from being banished. Since Zoo Tri-Brigade relies heavily on graveyard Special Summoning, it suddenly stops the deck in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel.

There are so many other powerful cards that can stop this, these are just a few of the choice ones.

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Eldlich - the meta deck that stops Zoodiac Tri-Brigade

Eldlich isn't just a powerful meta deck, it's a direct hard counter to combos like this (Image via Konami)

There’s also a deck that defeats this as long as it gets a turn to set up. Eldlich is a compelling control deck that can be used to stall out everything Zoodiac Tri-Brigade can do. This deck already runs Gozen Match, on top of other cards that destroy cards in play.

It uses cards like Gozen Match, Rivalry of Warlords and Skill Drain to break down combos and stop them from even kicking off in the first place. On top of that, Eldlich has an OTK combo it can use. That player needs an Eldlich in hand and in the grave to get it started and a trap in play.

That Eldlich player summons the second Eldlich through the trap in play and directly attacks with both of them. Then on Main Phase 2, they tribute Eldliches for Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Gustav Max and activate its ability. That deals 2,000 damage to an opponent, securing the game.

The Zoodiac Tri-Brigade deck focuses heavily on link combos, special summons, and graveyard shenanigans. Any card that a player can control or stop those moves seals the deal. In many cases, that player won’t have many options after the combo they committed to is stopped.