Must-have staple cards every duelist should craft in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel

Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel has over 10,000 cards, so it’s not always clear what a duelist needs to have in their collection. Fortunately, like every good card game, there are Staple Cards. These cards are more important than any other and can be incredibly versatile. Not all of these cards are incredibly rare, either.

Having these cards will allow a Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel players focus the rest of their cards on the deck archetypes they want to build. Players will see at least a few of these in virtually every meta deck.

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What are the staple hand traps in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel?

Hand traps are a fascinating card type in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel. The majority of these cards are monsters that happen to have a special effect that can be triggered from the player’s hand. That’s what makes them so powerful. These do not have to be set in play first.

The player triggers the effect in their hand, so the opponent has no idea a countermove is coming. These cards stop the other player’s combos and card effects, potentially winning a game all on their own. If the other player’s deck has one combo and it’s stopped on turn one, that can be it.

The most valuable, most potent of these cards are easily Maxx “C,” Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring, and Infinite Impermanence. For example, Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring can be discarded to negate adding a card from the deck, Special Summon from the deck, or sending a card to the graveyard.

This one card can stop any of those when a card does them, and all the player has to do is discard it. Maxx “C,” on the other hand, rewards players who use it to create a great deal of card draw. When this is used, for the entire turn, each time, the other player Special Summons a monster, Maxx “C”’s owner gets to draw a card.

This card may contain future cute art, but it can be devastating at the right time (Image via Konami)

It doesn’t stop a combo, but it allows for potentially tons of card draw, which can then be used to secure more control of the board.

The best hand traps in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel

• Maxx “C”
• Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring
• Nibiru, the Primal Being
• Infinite Impermanence
• Effect Veiler
• PSY-Framegear Gamma
• D.D. Crow
• Ghost Belle & Haunted Mansion

Without a doubt, these are the most important hand traps a player can own in this game.

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Board Removal in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel players need to own

Not every deck runs a ton of board wipes, but one or two cards here and there can turn the tide for duelists at any skill level. Quite a few of these are fun and powerful, without a doubt. A couple of these, in particular, are capable of completely disarming a player who made a killer, powerful turn one.

Did that player suddenly fill the board with monsters, and all hope is lost? Then it’s time for Raigeki! It’s a Limited Card, so there is only one per deck. But it can completely devastate the other player. Raigeki destroys all monsters an opponent controls.

There's a reason players can only run one Raigeki, and it is due to sheer, destructive power (Image via Konami)

Lightning Storm does something different, though. As long as the controlling player has no face-up cards, this can be activated to destroy all Attack Position monsters of the other player or destroy all their Trap/Spell cards.

Lightning Storm is efficient because it can be used in aggro decks to completely halt an Eldlich board filled with annoying traps.

Go-to removal spells for Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel

• Lightning Storm
• Raigeki
• Harpie’s Feather Duster
• Twin Twisters
• Crossout Designator
• Torrential Tribute

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Important card draw spells in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel

Power almost always come with a cost, and the Pot cards are no exception (Image via Konami)

There are few of these compared to the other cards, but card draw is potentially the most powerful thing. Having access to sudden and key cards is nothing to look down on. One of the downsides of these cards is that some of them have potential downsides.

If a player has all of their combo pieces or isn’t scared of losing some, Pot of Desires can be incredible. They banish the top 10 of their deck, then draw two cards. This can only be activated once per turn as well. However, players who put cards in their Extra Deck they don’t need may consider Pot of Prosperity.

That’s a card for players that need one specific card for a combo. Pot of Prosperity allows a player to banish 3 or 6 cards from their Extra Deck, then excavate that many off the top of their regular deck. The player can then pick up one of those cards and put it in their hand. However, the opponent takes half damage this turn.

Staple card draw for Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel

• Pot of Prosperity
• Pot of Extravagance
• Pot of Desires
• Allure of Darkness

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Extra Deck staples for Yu-Gi-Oh!

ZEUS is such a powerful card that it could go into every Extra Deck in Yu-Gi-Oh! (Image via Konami)

This is a very small list, but for a good reason. Frankly, there is only one XYZ monster that absolutely could be included in every deck of this game, and that’s Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS - Sky Thunder.

It’s normally expensive to summon (2 level 12 monsters), but if an XYZ monster battled this turn, a player can tribute one of the XYZ materials to summon Zeus instead.

This card can have materials added to it once per turn if a card of its owner is destroyed in the battle and can remove two materials to clear the board of everything but itself. It’s a devastating card.

Then there are Link Summons. These serve as win conditions or board interruptions and will undoubtedly be familiar. Accesscode Talker is in a huge number of decks for simply winning the game when it’s played in so many situations. It can also clear the board as well. Apollousa, Bow of the Goddess can negate key monster effects of other players, making it easier to win.

XYZ and Link Summon staples for Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel

• Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS - Sky Thunder
• Accesscode Talker
• Apollousa, Bow of the Goddess
• Knightmare Phoenix

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All staples, sorted by rarity for Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel

Called by the Grave is a solid way to completely stop a powerful monster from ending the game early (Image via Konami)

Some people might want to know the specific rarities for these Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel cards so they can better plan for crafting in the future. This is a list of all cards above, sorted by rarity. This list will also have cards that may not have fit into other categories and are still must-craft staples.

Ultra Rare

• Maxx “C”
• Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring
• Nibiru, the Primal Being
• Infinite Impermanence
• Forbidden Droplet
• Called by the Grave
• Lightning Storm, Apollousa, Bow of the Goddess
• Harpie’s Feather Duster
• Solemn Judgment
• Effect Veiler
• Crossout Designator
• Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS - Sky Thunder

Super Rare

• Pot of Extravagance
• Pot of Desires
• Pot of Prosperity
• Twin Twisters
• PSY-Frame Gamma
• Solemn Warning
• Knightmare Phoenix

Normal/Rare

• Torrential Tribute
• Forbidden Chalice
• Compulsory Evacuation Device
• Paleozoic Dinomischus

These Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel cards will not allow a player to win for free, but they will go a long way to counter other players’ combos, get much-needed cards, or set up future wins. That’s what makes these so powerful. They can be slotted into nearly every deck and are considered must-haves for the game in general.

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Disclaimer: This article reflects the opinions of the writer.