Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel: Top 8 decks, ranked

We ranked eight of the best deck types, achetypes, and engines in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel.

If you’re an avid TCG player, you already know that Master Duel provides a plethora of options for you to dig into. If you want to build the best deck possible and plays like a real professional, all of the options you need are right here.

In this list we’ve collated eight of the best deck types, archetypes, and engines that global players have been implementing in their winning strategy. These varied decks, engines, and archetypes are essential to help you win games in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel. Of course, you can absolutely win games without using anything of the things we suggest, but you’ll need luck of the draw, while these deck ideas neatly stack things in your favour.

8. Prank-Kids

Prank Kids Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel screenshot, supplied by Konami

Prank-Kids is about using Level 1-4 Prank-Kids monsters to Summon more monsters, while gathering resources every step of the way. Though their aesthetic may seem goofy at first, they are even more ridiculous after fusing/linking from card names such as Meow-Meow-Mu, Dodo-Doodle-Doo, Bow-Wow-Bark, and more. This is one of the easier decks to build in the game, but still one of the key engines, which means you should absolutely have a Prank-Kids deck built and ready to go in an emergency.

7. Sky Strikers

Sky Striker. Picture: Konami

The Sky Strikers engine has soared throughout the competitive TCG, and soars even higher in Master Duel thanks to cards being semi-limited rather than limited. This engine focuses on utilising spells to create plays while gathering resources. You won’t find many Trap cards in a Sky Strikers deck, other than Infinite Impermanence, and that’s because the more spells in your graveyard, the more options/effects activate you have access to.

6. Eldlich

Eldlich The Golden Lord. Picture: Konami

The essential monster in this deck is Eldlich The Golden Lord. This deck is best at preventing your opponent from destroying your cards or activating card effects. Even if The Golden Lord is sent to the graveyard, it can come back to the field, allowing Eldlich to rise like the Zombie it is. This is a control deck for longer duels, but is able to push opponents into a corner, dwindling their resources steadily.

5. Tri-Brigade

Tri-Brigade. Picture: Konami

Tri-Brigade is a combo of Beast, Beast-Warrior, and Winged Beast monsters. The playstyle is heavily repeated combo plays when sending the monsters to the graveyard to activate effects. Tri-Brigade uses banishing strategies alongside Link Summoning monsters like Shuraig. Some decks purely use Tri-Brigade monsters/support, which is an option. Having Link Tri-Brigade monsters combined with Xyz Zoodiac monsters creates a Beast deck that is incredibly ferocious.

4. Virtual World

Virtual World. Picture: Konami

Virtual World is focused on using different main deck monsters, banishing them monsters to provide bonuses, and ending in summoning Xyz or Synchro monsters – mainly Synchro. Shenshen is one of the boss monsters and is able to banish all cards sent from the field to the graveyard – a powerful ability. This allows the deck to provide bonuses while hurting your opponent by preventing them from activating graveyard effects. Summoning Ultimaya Tzolkin or Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon will completely nullify your opponent’s monster effects – brutal.

3. Dragonmaid

Dragonmaid Sheou. Picture: Konami

Dragonmaids are able to protect themselves by switching to their other forms throughout the duel, and include a variety of benefits, with their main boss monster, Dragonmaid Sheou, able to negate any card/effect. If any of the cutesy Dragonmaids are returned to the hand while House Dragonmaid is on the field, the Dragonmaid player can destroy any monster the opponent has. This is a simple and effective deck that can wipe away pressure from your opponents.

2. Toon

Toon Kingdom. Picture: Konami

If you were a fan of the classic Yu-Gi-Oh! anime series, then you’ll probably recognise the Toon monsters. Toons are able to attack the opponent directly if they do not have any Toon monsters of their own, and with cards like Toon Dark Magician providing extra summons, Toons are a force to be reckoned with. Arm yourself with Toon Kingdom and a bunch of Toon Monsters, and this deck is still a guaranteed hit.

1. Drytron Fairy

The Herald of Ultimateness. Picture: Konami

This deck is all about Ritual Summoning special Fairy monsters while cutting off all avenues for your opponent. Sounds good, right? The Herald of Ultimateness boss card allows you to discard a Fairy monster from your hand to cancel a Special Summon or a Spell/Trap card. This can utterly devastate certain deck strategies. Plus, using Cyber Angel monsters as material to Ritual Summon will allow you to draw more cards from the deck.

Written by Veerender Singh Jubbal on behalf of GLHF.