People used to think that making token monsters was a bit of a waste of time. I mean, sure, a few combination decks could use them to make their plays a little better.
But tokens didn’t have much of an effect on the game as a whole.
Fast forward to 2017, when Link monsters were added. Link monsters could be special called with very ordinary things, like tokens, which caused a lot of excitement.
Suddenly, the number of people interested in calling tokens went through the roof, and every deck tried to make as many tokens as possible.
When you had more tokens, you could link call more often, which usually led to better monsters and more wins.
In fact, since link monsters were made, 7 cards that make tokens are no longer allowed in competitive Yu-Gi-Oh, and many others are only allowed one copy per deck.
So, if you want to get better at link-summoning plays, this list will help you with some cards that add tokens to your board and some tips on how to use them to improve your game.
18. Blackwing – Steam the Cloak
Blackwing—Steam the Cloak was put on the Forbidden List by Crystron Halqifibrax, but it got off that list last year.
At first glance, Steam the Cloak seems like a great way to tune Blackwings. When it leaves the field, it calls a token, and you can sacrifice that token or another monster to bring it back from the graveyard.
I don’t think Steam the Cloak is bad in Blackwings, but I also don’t think it’s necessary in those decks. Tearlaments really do love this small bird.
At least, late last year’s Tearlaments did. In theory, it could be used for Link Summons by any deck that can send Steam the Cloak to the graveyard or give up a Normal Summon.
Just don’t try to use it for a Synchro Summon unless you can play another Blackwing monster from your Main Deck.
17. Mecha Phantom Beast O-Lion
When Links came out, Mecha Phantom Beast cards got a big boost. Cyrston Halqifibrax put Mecha Phantom Beast O-lion on the Forbidden List, and it didn’t come back to the game until not too long ago.
Mecha Phantom Beast Auroradon, on the other hand, will probably stay Forbidden for a long time, just like Linkross and Number 42: Galaxy Tomahawk, which also make tokens when they attack.
When O-lion goes to the graveyard from the hand, the field, or the deck, it makes a symbol.
It’s very simple and makes a lot of sense in decks that can draw a lot of cards quickly, but it’s best in tactics that can also use its banish effect to bring a second copy from the hand.
16. Girsu, the Orcust Mekk-Knight
There are a lot of cards that can Normal Summon tokens, so they are hard to get. Lucky for us, Girsu, the Orcust Mekk-Knight does a lot more than just call tokens to both players’ fields.
If you want Girsu to be as good as it can be, you really need to take advantage of the synergies between Orcust and World Legacy.
It’s a great card to play with a Mekk-Knight engine, especially if you’re already playing “World Wand” or “World Chalice” from World Legacy.
You can get rid of World Chalice from your deck to look for a free copy of World Legacy Succession on your next turn.
Girsu works best in a plan that wants to put tokens on the opponent’s field, like Plunder Patrols or Kaijus, and it seems like Girsu will find a new home soon.
15. Multiply
Multiply is a very specific way to play, and this card can’t be used in every deck.
But if you know a lot about the Kuriboh arts, this card is just what you need.
With this card, you can sacrifice a face-up Kuriboh monster you control to raise as many Kuriboh tokens as you can, all in defense position.
You can’t use these pieces for a tribute summon, but you can use them for a link summon.
Since this card was made, there have been quite a few new Kuriboh cards made.
We now have Linkuriboh, which is like Kuriboh but a Link monster.
The Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds version is called Junkuriboh.
And there’s much, much more!
You can use these Kuriboh with Multiply.
So, if you have a lot of Kuriboh monsters in your deck, this spell card can be a great way to make your Link plays go further.
14. Generaider Boss Stage
The Generaider is a fun character that is based on the Raid Bosses in MMOs.
You know how you can only beat a boss with a group of friends, as long as everyone works together? I didn’t know that was where this strategy came from until I looked up this card.
This field spell is great for making tokens because it lets you make tokens while your opponent’s turn is up.
At the beginning of your opponent’s turn, you can special summon as many attack-position tokens as you want, but they are all killed at the end of the turn.
This makes sure that you always have some kind of defense on the field, even if you don’t have a monster.
If you have a pure Generaider build, you can use these tokens to turn on the powers of your Generaider monster.
But even if you don’t use a Generaider build, this field spell is a great way to stay safe no matter what.
13. Black Garden
Some things have to be given up in order to get coins.
In this case, attack points are given up as a sacrifice.
When either player calls up a monster, that monster’s attack is cut in half, and that player gets a free plant symbol.
This action doesn’t only happen once per turn, so the more you can summon, the more tokens you can make!
But if the effect that halves attacks gets in the way of how you play, Black Garden has a clever way to get rid of itself.
You can destroy this field spell along with every plant monster on the field to bring back a plant monster from your graveyard, as long as the revived monster has the same attack as the combined attack of all the monsters you just killed.
Very useful in plant decks and pretty useful in other decks as well, as long as you have a way to get rid of it when you’re done.
12. Boot Staggered
Along with Link summoning, Cyberse were a new type of creature.
Since most of Yu-Gi-Oh Vrains takes place in a virtual reality dueling world, they are built on computers and technology.
If you want to use Cyberse as a plan, Boot Staggered is a great way to get some tokens to use with link summon.
You can special summon it for free whenever you normal summon a Cyberse monster to your field, which in a pure Cyberse deck will be almost every turn.
This card has a good attack value of 2300, and every time it hurts your opponent, you can special call a token to your side of the field.
More tokens can be made the longer this guy stays on the field and attacks. This card is a great way to make sure that you can always link call.
11. Mecha Phantom Beast Auroradon
You get three free tokens when you link call this card. What a steal!
The only bad thing about this great deal is that you can’t link call with these tokens for the rest of the turn.
You can, however, use them for synchro summons, tribute summons, or just to use this card’s ability. How it works is as follows:
Depending on how many monsters you sacrifice, you can destroy a card on the field, special summon a Mecha Phantom Beast from the deck, or bring back a trap card from the graveyard.
This card’s tokens are a great way to use these abilities, and since they’re basically summoned for free, there’s no reason not to.
10. Battle Waltz
What’s better than having a matching monster that is incredibly strong?
Two of them, of course!
Battle Waltz lets you “clone” one of your face-up synchro monsters by special summoning a token with the same attack, defense, level, type, and attribute.
This card can’t do any damage to your opponent during a fight. But you can use it to crush some of the bigger monsters your opponent has.
So, you can use the first monster to do a lot of damage to your opponent while also getting rid of more monsters from their board.
9. The Golden Apples
This trap card does two things at once: it protects you from battle damage and gives you tokens that you can use to attack or link summon.
When you take damage and don’t have any monsters under your control, you can get those life points back and special call a “Malus token” with attack and defense equal to the damage you took.
(Fun fact: “Malus” is the scientific family name for “apple,” so most apple trees are called “Malus” trees. That’s why the tokens are called “Malus tokens!”
So, if your opponent attacks you straight with a big monster and thinks they have you on the ropes, this card turns the situation on its head.
Not only will these apples keep the doctor away, but also a Blue Eyes White Dragon.
8. Mare Mare
To call Mare Mare, you have to pay two payments. Which seems like a lot for a monster with 2100 attacks.
But the result of this card that makes tokens is well worth the cost.
You can lower this card’s level by 1 to special summon a token with 300 attack and 200 defense that is also level 1. You can do this three times per turn, giving you a hit worth 3000 points.
Mare Mare is also a tuner monster, which means you can use this card and its tokens to do a level 7 synchro summon or maybe even higher if you control other monsters.
There are some very strong level 7 synchro monsters, like the Black Rose Dragon, which wipes out the whole board. This makes Mare Mare a great card for any synchro deck.
7. Mecha Phantom Beast Dracosack
If you want to play a deck with level 7 monsters, you probably already have this card set up for your extra deck.
It is one of the best rank 7 monsters in all of Yu-Gi-Oh because it can make tokens and because its powers are so great.
This card can’t be destroyed as long as you have any kind of token in your hand. You can’t kill it in battle or with a card effect, so beating Dracosack will take a lot of planning.
You can also use these tokens to use the skill of Dracosack.
You can get rid of any other card on the field by getting rid of a Mecha Phantom Beast you control.
All of these things can be taken away by this one strong effect: spells, traps, and monsters.
6. Gorz the Emissary of Darkness
Before hand traps were even a thing, this guy was a hand trap.
Gorz changed how Yu-Gi-Oh was played in every way. All of a sudden, a field that looked empty could be a trap for something much worse.
Whenever you take damage in battle, you can special summon Gorz from your hand for free, along with a symbol with attack and defense equal to the damage you just took.
This means that the next turn, you can hit your opponent’s monsters harder depending on how strong they are.
I can’t think of a better way to beat someone than to use their big monsters against them.
5. Photon Sanctuary
Photon Sanctuary is an easy spell card that gives you two level 4 tokens with 2000 attack. This is likely one of the easiest ways to get tokens.
They can’t fight or be used as a part of a synchro, and you can only summon Light monsters for the rest of the turn.
But in Link decks that only play Light monsters, this is basically a free link 2 monster.
If most of the monsters in your extra deck are light, you might even be able to get around the “Light monsters only” rule.
But this card is easiest to play with pure light decks like Trickstar.
4. Scapeghost
Flip monsters used to be a novelty in Yu-Gi-Oh, but now they are a full-fledged strategy that is used by many characters.
Check out Shaddolls:
They are a fusion deck that depends on flip monsters and their effects. They use great trap cards like Resh Shaddoll Incarnation to keep triggering these flip effects.
When Scapeghost is turned over, you can special send as many sheep tokens as you can to your side of the field.
There are no limits on these, so you can use them as much as you want to honor summon, synchro summon, or link summon.
3. Doppelwarrior
You would have a hard time finding a matching deck that doesn’t include this card.
Because this guy can make tokens, he is great for keeping your group plays going.
You can Special Summon Doppelwarrior from your hand whenever a monster is Special Summoned from the graveyard.
Synchro decks are all about bringing back monsters from the dead to use in a synchro summon, so this guy will be on the board in no time.
And when you use this card to do a synchro summon, you can special summon two tokens in its place, giving you even more things you can use to do summons.
That’s a lot of value from just one card.
2. Phantom Skyblaster
Getting tokens is great and all, but what if you could also use them to burn your opponent?
For each monster you control, Phantom Skyblaster gives you a token.
So, if you control one monster in the extra monster zone and one in the main zone, when this guy is called, you get 3 tokens.
Then, you can do 300 damage to your opponent for every Skyblaster monster you have on the field. With all of your tokens, this adds up to a good 1200 damage.
That’s enough to make or break a game and give you a lot of things you can use to link summon.
1. Scapegoat
Spacegoat is the real GOAT when it comes to making tokens.
(Yes, I’m embarrassed by that joke, too.)
You can special summon four goat tokens to your side of the field at quick impact speed.
Even though you can’t call on the turn you use Scapegoat, this doesn’t matter at all if you use it on your opponent’s turn.
And if you play this card during your opponent’s end phase, you’ll get 4 materials that you can use to link summon right away when it’s your turn.
This combo was so popular that Scapegoat got put on the list of cards that can’t be played, so you can only have one copy of this card in your deck now.
This is a “old-school” way to play Yu-Gi-Oh, using all of the cards that came out before The Lost Millennium.
During this time, many decks played “Goat Control,” in which you used Scapegoat to control the flow of the game and make sure that battles happened when you wanted them to—hence the name “GOAT format.”
