One of the stranger terms to arise in the game recently is probably “Hand-Traps” It might not even make sense to a player who quit after the original series or even in GX.
It’s an informal phrase for monsters that may activate effects in hand that can be used during the turn of the opponent, frequently interfering with their plays and occasionally even ending their turns.
Because players don’t have to set them, they may evade all the spell/trap removal that has become so common as the game has expanded, these cards have gained popularity over the past four years.
The top hand traps in Yu-Gi-Oh are discussed in this article along with what makes them so incredible.
15. The Emissary Of Darkness Gorz
Another classic game from the past, Gorz fundamentally altered how players saw the combat phase.
When your field is empty and you take battle damage, you can special summon Gorz and a token with the same stats as the damage you took.
When people discovered how effective this card was in generating tokens for link summons, it was used a lot at the beginning of the Link era.
Players were reluctant to fight after Gorz was released since they may hit their foe with a massive 2700 attack monster.
14. Battle Fader
If you find yourself losing the duel’s momentum, use Battle Fader.
This card will stop your opponent in their tracks if your board is empty and they have you completely on the ropes.
More specifically, this hand trap terminates the fighting phase instantly if you have nothing out and leaves you with a monster to defend with!
Then, you could either leave it there as a line of defense or use it as a summoning material on your next turn to make bigger and better monsters.
13. Chronograph Sorcerer
I have a soft spot in my heart for pendulum decks:
I started with a Performapal deck when I returned to the game after a long absence, which evolved into an Odd-Eyes Magician deck.
Pendulum decks, especially Pendulum Magicians, benefit greatly from this hand trap.
When one of your cards is destroyed, along with another monster in your hand, you can special summon this card.
The flaw in this effect is that your opponent doesn’t even have to destroy it for it to work.
12. Tragoedia
Level 10 monsters, like this one, have a certain aura that just screams power.
You can free special summon Tragoedia after you receive battle damage!
Then, if you have a monster in your hand with the same level as the opponent’s, you can use his second effect to control the opponent’s monster.
Additionally, this power doesn’t just exist for the duration of the turn. It is yours to keep once you have stolen it.
This implies that you can directly counterattack an opponent’s powerful monster.
Tragoedia is also ideal for linking summoning with an opponent’s monster since you don’t have to use up your regular summon.
11. Honest
This card was the epitome of meta during the GX era.
Light of Destruction, the film that debuted Lightsworns, featured Honest.
One of the first authentic archetypes in Yu-Gi-Oh! (at least, one of the first ones that were decent) was the Lightsworn. Apologies, Elemental Heroes.
Additionally, as implied by the name, this archetype featured light monsters.
Lightworks were absolute masters of the metagame back in the day, and as a result, receiving an Honest was commonplace.
This hand trap is still used today, especially in Trickstars or Fairy decks because it ensures that any combat you start with a light monster will end with your victory.
I would splash Honest in any deck I could if it weren’t restricted to light monsters. Sadly, though, this limitation maintains him where he is in our ranking.
10. DIMENSION SHIFTER
When the Gold Sarcophagus Tin was launched, three brand-new cards changed the way the game was played.
Though overshadowed by Nibiru, The Primal Being, and Dark Ruler No More, Dimension Shifter was one of these.
Don’t get me wrong, Dimension Shifter is an excellent card. A player can discard a card to have any card sent to the graveyard banished instead of being destroyed if they have no cards in their graveyard.
This could completely end the opponent’s turn if their deck depends on cards going into the graveyard. Even decks like Thunder Dragon can benefit from the effect themselves.
9. RED REBOOT
Red Reboot is a trap card that can be activated from the hand at the expense of half its user’s life points, making it a more literal hand trap.
Red Reboot is a counter trap card, so it cannot be attacked by anything other than another counter trap card.
Red Reboot allows the opponent to set another trap from their deck while negating the activation of the original trap card and setting it anew.
In exchange, they are unable to activate any trap cards for the remainder of that turn. Yu-Gi-Oh! is extremely quick, thus this trap-free turn could result in success.
8. A DRAGON PHANTAZMAY OF FANTASY
Since its debut in the Savage Strike set of 2019, Fantastical Dragon Phantazmay has been in and out of the metagame.
Fantastical Dragon Phantazmay can be called upon when the opponent Special Summons a Link Monster or Monsters.
Then, it shuffles back cards equal to the number of Link Monsters on the opponent’s field before allowing its user to draw cards up to the number of Link Monsters the opponent controls (plus one extra card).
This enables a mulligan and gives the user more interruption to play during the turn of the adversary.
For added defense, it also effectively negates any effect that targets a monster and can discard a card.
7. GHOST BELLE & HAUNTED MANSION
One of the most undervalued hand traps in the game is Ghost Belle & Haunted Mansion, which is sometimes overlooked.
This card maintains the graveyard system. Ghost Belle & Haunted Mansion can be discarded to counter an opponent’s ability to play a card or effect that moves a graveyard card somewhere else.
The main drawback is that it eliminates the activation rather than the action itself, despite being a very strong effect.
However, many strategies that rely on summoning monsters from the Graveyard, which is a highly frequent tactic in the present game, can be rendered useless by this.
6. The DD CROW
D.D. Crow, one of the simpler hand traps, has existed longer than all the Extra Deck shenanigans that made the card so popular.
D.D. Crow, a card from the Strike of Neos set from 2007, has a fast effect that can be used on either player’s turn.
It discards itself to the graveyard to choose and banish a card from the opponent’s graveyard.
A player’s strategy is frequently stopped in its tracks by this card, which banishes a card they may otherwise need.
This is what has caused the card to appear in so many side decks over the years.
5. EFFECT VEILER
Among the earliest hand traps still in use. There was a period when this was a three-copies necessary necessity in some formats dating back to the Xyz Era.
Why not, then? When utilized properly, it might completely end an adversary’s turn.
To target an effect monster on the field and counteract its effects during the opponent’s main phase, it can be sent to the graveyard.
It lost popularity because it could not counter effects that were activated during the player’s turn and could only be used during the opponent’s main phase.
It is still a fantastic low-cost alternative, though, despite it.
4. Artifact Lancea
Artifacts are an original archetype that blurs the distinction between spells and monsters (and not in the pendulum way).
They can be used to get a variety of effects by being set up as though they were spell cards.
However, the most intriguing aspect of this situation is Artifact Lancea’s hand impact.
It can be used as a tribute from your hand to stop either player from banishing any cards this turn.
Recently, this hand trap has been used a lot, especially against decks that contain Pot of Desires, a spell card that functions similarly to Pot of Greed but requires you to banish 10 cards to trigger it.
The Eater of Millions strategy, which depends on banishing nearly the whole deck and punishing you for it, may be easily defeated by Artifact Lancea.
3. Psy frame Gear Gamma
This card now has a better effect than an Effect Veiler.
You can negate a monster effect by using Psy-frame Gear Gamma, and you can also use it to special summon a Psy-Frame Driver from your hand, deck, or graveyard!
The disadvantage of this is that to summon, you must run a Psy-Frame Driver.
Additionally, the card features a powerless level 6 monster. It’s awful.
In essence, you’re playing with one fewer card if you chance to draw into it on your first try.
However, in a link-heavy deck where link materials are crucial, I’d say the risk is worthwhile.
And when it counts, Psy-Frame Driver excels at serving as garbage can material.
2. THE PRIMARY BEING, NIBIRU
Have you ever grown weary of seeing a combination deck play forever? observing them call forth monster after monster while they construct some ridiculous board that is hard to cross? Nibiru, the Primal Being—the apex of destruction—enters.
The player can sacrifice all monsters on the field to special summon Nibiru from their hand. If the opponent normal or special summons five or more monsters in a turn, the player can then special summon a Primal Being Token to the opponent’s field.
The token that Nibiru summons has the combined attack of all the creatures that were sacrificed, thus the player must have a method for getting rid of that token once it appears.
1. Winter Cherries and the Ghost Reaper
It is without a doubt the least obvious hand trap on this list, but the power it can give you is deadly.
Ghost Reaper can be discarded to show a monster from your backup deck. You can then remove from your opponent’s extra deck all the cards that match the one you showed.
Therefore, you not only get to get ready for what’s coming, but you also get to take away their main resources.
A card that is essential to their entire strategy could be revealed if you want to be especially harsh with it (and let’s be honest, who doesn’t?).
