Since it came out, Master Duel has been going strong, and the first set of new cards has just been added.
Even though we haven’t seen any big players join yet, the new cards are getting closer to what’s already in the TCG.
Master Duel has its own banlist, which is made up of both TCG and OCG hits.
This means that decks that are popular in the TCG may not even be usable, and decks that were popular in the past but had to be banned are now at their best.
Even though it’s still Yu-Gi-Oh!, the metas of Master Duel are very different from the paper game, especially since it’s a best-of-one style.
15. Runick
A Runick deck aims to mill down a player’s deck, making it the most toxic engine introduced to Yu-Gi-Oh!
It uses three essential monsters to block enemy attacks and fetch spell cards needed to grind down the enemy deck.
The key card is Runick Fountain, which lets you play Runick Quick-Play spells on your opponent’s turn and fetch three of them from the GY once per turn.
The spells banish cards from the top of the opponent’s deck, disrupting their play. The Runick monsters can block and destroy opponent monsters, and trap cards restrict the opponent’s monster count and attacks.
Overall, it’s a frustrating but effective way to win.
14. D/D/D
D/D/D is a complicated deck that relies on multiple summoning methods.
The goal is to get two D/D monsters on the field and Link summon D/D/D Abyss King Gilgamesh to set up the Pendulum summoning positions.
From there, you need to Xyz, fusion, synchro and Link summon specific monsters in the right order to create a powerful board.
D/D/D Deviser King Deus Machinex can remove a monster once per chain and there are many spell and trap cards to support the strategy. It takes time to master, but can be very effective.
13. Branded Despia
Branded Despia is a Master Duel deck that uses fusion monsters to deal extreme damage. Its fusion spell, Branded Fusion, allows for fusion summoning without the materials on hand.
The first target should be Lubellion the Searing Dragon, which can be tributed along with Fallen of Albaz to summon Mirrorjade, The Iceblade Dragon.
The deck is flexible, with Aluber the Jester of Despia being able to retrieve Branded Fusion if it isn’t in hand. If the fusion is negated, standard Polymerisation can be used.
The deck requires careful decision making and timing, but can lead to victory with its big monsters.
12. Mathmech
Mathmech is a Cyberse deck in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel that aims to summon Accesscode Talker by tribute-summoning enough link monsters.
Mathmech cards have different effects based on mathematical terminology in their names. Mathmech Circular can be special-summoned by sending one monster from your deck to the GY, and Mathmech Sigma can be summoned from the GY if there are no monsters in your Extra Monster Zone.
Primathmech Alembertian can send two attached Mathmechs to the GY to fetch Mathmech Diameter, which lets you summon a level 4 monster from your GY.
The order of Link monster chaining depends on whether you go first or second. Mathmech has different formulas to counter your opponent’s strategy and can be a versatile and effective deck.
11. Floowandereeze
Floowandereeze is a control engine in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel that relies on normal summons and controlling what effects your opponent can use.
It starts with Floowandereeze & Robina, fetches another monster, and tribute summons Floowandereeze & Elgin.
This triggers three effects, allowing you to fetch a spell or trap and control the board. Elgin prevents tribute-summoned monsters from using their effects and can half an opponent’s monster’s attack, while Dreaming City lets you hijack your opponent’s turn and summon other monsters.
Mist Valley Apex Avian nullifies an opponent’s effect chain, and Raiza the Mega Monarch targets a card on the field and places it on top of the opponent’s deck. Floowandereeze can be a brutal control deck despite its cute appearance.
10. Rhongo Bongo
The unofficial name for the deck that uses Heroic Champion—Rhongomyniad as its max material is “Rhongo Bongo.”
When it has four or more materials, it makes it impossible to call anything and makes itself immune to card effects, making it very hard to get rid of.
The easiest way to do this is to use the Phantom Knights software.
They are very reliable, and the Phantom Knights of Break Sword can turn all of their Level 3 monsters into Level 4 monsters, which is the level Rhongo needs to be Xyz Summoned.
9. True Draco
True Draco is one of the least expensive decks to build in Master Duel because it only needs a small number of SR and UR cards. True Draco is a common Control Archetype that usually plays more than one Floodgate.
True Draco can sacrifice Continuous Spell and Trap cards to Tribute Summon themselves. This lets you easily get around one of the problems with Tribute Summoning, making them more or less the same as Normal Summons.
All of the True Draco Spell and Trap cards have effects when they are sacrificed, which lets you destroy your opponent’s board while setting up your own.
8. Zoodiac
Zoodiac has a long experience with the banlist because he is always on and off of it. Zoodiac Drident isn’t allowed in the TCG, but it’s fine in Master Duel. This makes it possible to play Zoodiac at full strength.
Zoodiac is one of the best Xyz Summoning Archetypes because all Zoodiac Monsters can be used as the whole material for any Zoodiac Xyz Monster, so they don’t need any Xyz materials.
This gives them a lot of stability, and when you add Tri-Brigade to the mix, you have a consistent deck that can pop more than one field.
7. Thunder Dragon
Since Thunder Dragon Colossus was taken out of the TCG, Thunder Dragons didn’t do as well in the meta. But with Master Duel, you can use all of the Thunder Dragon Monsters.
Even though there are restrictions on many Thunder Dragon cards in Master Duel, just having access to Thunder Dragon Colossus makes the deck the best.
You can also use the Chaos engine, which lets you play with one of the most reliable builds of Thunder Dragon. This is possible because Fairy Tail Snow has no restrictions in Master Duel.
6. Virtual World
Virtual World is one of the best Synchro Archetypes and one of the most popular in Master Duel. Virtual World decks are very uniform, so you can look for almost any Virtual Card you might need at any time.
Floodgates like Virtual World Kyubi-Shenshen and the Master Duel-legal True King of All Calamities are a big part of Virtual World decks.
These Floodgate boss Monsters are easy for Virtual World decks to make, and in best-of-one situations, this is often a game-winning plan because the opponent can’t side for it.
5. Sky Striker
Sky Striker is a unique Control deck because it almost never uses Trap cards. Instead, it plays mostly Spell cards.
In best-of-one situations, Control decks usually beat Combo decks because they are less likely to make bad meta decisions because they can work with almost any deck.
Sky Striker decks only have a few monsters in their main deck, usually no more than three, and they can play a full hand of traps on top of their strong spells.
They don’t have a lot of cards in their Extra Deck, but that doesn’t matter much when you can keep blocking and stopping your opponent’s moves.
4. Invoked
Since Aleister, Invoked has been a mainstay of the Yu-Gi-Oh! meta. The Invoker could be summoned in the normal way.
The engine is very small, and you only need one copy of the card Invocation. Invoked is one of the best engines because of this, and it has been paired with a lot of other Archetypes.
Most builds of Invoked include the Shaddoll and Dogmatika Archetypes, which work well together with Invoked to make a powerful deck.
Invoked is one of the most flexible decks because it can be played in many different ways.
3. Adamancipator
Adamancipator wrecked the TCG in the beginning of 2020, and while it has died out there, it has been doing the opposite in Master Duel.
Adamancipator was hurt when Block Dragon was taken out of the TCG, but it’s a card that can be used in Master Duel. This lets Adamancipator decks use all of their power when they play.
Adamancipator are all about filling the field with strong Rock Monsters that turn into Boss Monsters to stop anything the opponent does.
Adamancipator can go into any type of Extra Deck Monster, and because they are so reliable, you can play to whatever your opponent is playing.
2. Drytron
Drytron is the best Combo deck in Master Duel right now because it is powerful and always plays well.
They are a group of Light Machine Monsters that can get around the mechanics of Ritual Summoning.
Instead of Levels, they use Attack statistics, and every Drytron has 2000 Attack.
Drytron decks put out strong Ritual Monsters quickly, like Herald of Ultimateness, which lets you negate attacks more than once per turn.
Because there are so many powerful generic Ritual Support cards, and because they can cheat around their biggest weakness, they have one of the best decks in Master Duel.
1. Eldlich
Eldich is a powerhouse in Master Duel. His Trap deck is one of the most strong in Yu-Gi-Oh!
In Master Duel, control decks have an edge, and Eldich is very hard to beat because Floodgates don’t have many restrictions.
In the TCG, side decking can hurt Eldich, but since that doesn’t happen in Master Duel, if you go first, you’ll probably be able to win the game.
Eldich is very reliable and can easily play out grind games without ever getting tired. Both of these are things that every deck wants, and Eldich has them both.
