Dragons have been a staple of the Yu-Gi-Oh! card game since before the original manga revolved around it, with monsters like Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Red-Eyes Black Dragon, and Curse Of Dragon being the most familiar.

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While these monsters continue getting new support, the days of Dragon-type Fusion monsters like Five-Headed Dragon and Dragon Master Knight being the strongest cards in the game have long since passed due to the inclusion of better monsters from the Fusion, Synchro, Pendulum, and Link Monster card types. But what are the best Dragons in Master Duel that can be put in the Extra Deck?

10. Trishula, Dragon Of The Ice Barrier

Trishula has been one of the most sought-after Extra Deck cards ever since it was first released and is still a staple of many Extra Decks. While it is part of the Ice Barrier archetype, it does not require other members as materials or for its effect, making it a much more splashable card.

When properly Synchro Summoned, Trishula can banish one card from the opponent's field, one from their Graveyard, and one randomly from their hand. It might not be once per turn, but it can be one of the most helpful cards in the game when summoned at the right time.

9. Neo-Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon

While regular Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon isn't nearly as good as it was when it was first released, thanks to the Darkside Of Dimensions movie and Seto Kaiba, we now have an upgraded version in the form of Neo-Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon.

It's most useful in Blue-Eyes decks since it requires Blue-Eyes Fusion Monsters to be sent to the Graveyard to attack up to three times per turn. It can also negate and destroy any card that targets a Blue-Eyes monster by banishing itself from the Graveyard. Neo-Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon may not be as splashable as other cards, but it's an excellent upgrade to a legendary monster.

8. Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon

Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon is one of the most splashable Xyz monsters available in Master Duel, meaning it can be used in various decks. This is because it requires only two level four monsters, which many decks already have.

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Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon can also easily turn the course of a duel around with its effect, halving the Attack Points of an opponent's monsters and then gaining those points for itself. It can still be destroyed in various ways, but it can be the key to victory when played at the right moment or with the right combination of cards.

7. Starving Venom Fusion Dragon

While it isn't as splashable as Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon, Starving Venom Fusion Dragon can still be used in many decks since it only requires two Dark attribute monsters and Polymerization or a Polymerization equivalent.

Like Dark Rebellion, Starving Venom gains Attack Points from one of the opponent's monsters, although it gains the total Attack Points instead of stealing half, and the target also must be a Special Summoned monster. It can also steal the name and effects of Level 5 or higher monsters once per turn and can destroy all the opponent's Special Summoned monsters if destroyed after being Fusion Summoned.

6. Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis

Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord Of Heliopolis may have a long name, but its effect is much shorter than many newer cards. By detaching one material and tributing one or more monsters from the field and hand, the player can destroy the same amount of cards on the field as those tributed.

This card is useful because it can destroy the opponent's cards and the player's cards, meaning they can get rid of Continuous Spell and Trap cards they placed earlier that are just taking up space. Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord Of Heliopolis is also the strongest monster in the Hieratic archetype.

5. Darkness Metal, The Dragon Of Dark Steel

Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon also got an updated version in the form of Darkness Metal, The Dragon Of Dark Steel.

Darkness Metal expands the effect of the original by only requiring several monsters of the same type and attribute instead of a specific type or attribute, and by being able to Special Summon any of the player's banished or destroyed monsters once per turn, although they'll be in defense mode with their effects negated.

These monsters can then be used as materials or tributes and instead of going to the Graveyard, they'll be put back in the deck, giving the player another chance to use them.

4. Black Rose Dragon

Unlike other monsters that have received upgraded forms, the original Black Rose Dragon is still the best. While its second effect is best for decks revolving around Plant-type monsters, its first effect is what helps make it splashable.

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When properly Synchro Summoned, Black Rose Dragon destroys every card on the field. While this effect can seem detrimental to the player, plenty of cards can return others or prevent complete destruction. Because it destroys all cards instead of specific targets, Black Rose Dragon continues to be useful to this day and, with the right combination, can even cause a one-turn kill.

3. Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend

An upgraded version of Red Dragon Archfiend, Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend, takes the original's name when on the field or Graveyard but can also destroy all Special Summoned Effect Monsters on the field as long as their Attack Points are equal to or lower than its own, but it won't destroy itself.

The opposing player will then take 500 damage to their Life Points for each monster destroyed, providing a great way to clear the field of monsters while still dealing damage. It may not destroy everything but will stay somewhat effective as long as most decks revolve around Effect Monsters.

2. Borrelsword Dragon

Borrelsword Dragon is from the newer Borrel archetype, which primarily consists of Dark Attribute dragon-type link monsters. Borrelsword Dragon can't be destroyed by battle, can change one Attack Position monster to Defense Position, and can attack a second time during the Battle Phase when this happens.

Players could always try to negate this effect, but cards and effects cannot be activated in response to it, so the best way to counter it is to negate its summoning entirely. When Borrelsword attacks, it can also steal half the Attack Points of its target, learning from its predecessor Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon.

1. Phantasmal Lord Ultimitl Bishbaalkin

While this Bishbaalkin seems difficult to summon, with the right cards, it can easily be summoned on the first turn before the opponent can do anything. It also can prevent the opponent from doing anything since it takes over the entire field by summoning Tokens.

Additionally, each token gives it 1000 Attack Points, meaning it can have up to 9000 total. However, it still has some weaknesses as the Tokens have no rules against being tributed, and Bishbaalkin itself cannot attack the same turn it uses its effect. Despite its limitations, it's still one of the most powerful Dragons in Master Duel.

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"The ultimate wizard in terms of attack and defense." For many, those were the first words read on a Yu-Gi-Oh! card. Perhaps one of the most iconic cards in the game's history, Dark Magician has had many support cards added to the game through the years.

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Yugi's iconic Ace Monster has formed into a rather large Archetype with a plethora of cards that strengthen any Dark Magician Deck. Not only that, but some Dark Magician cards are so powerful, many Decks are playing it that aren't even focused around Dark Magician itself. Being one of the oldest cards, Dark Magician gets tons of support.

10. Magicians' Combination

Magicians' Combination allows its user to Tribute a Dark Magician or Dark Magician Girl in order to Special Summon the one opposite of the Tributed Monster, and negate the effects of a card that is activated. A Dark Magician Deck doesn't have access to many cards that negate, making Magicians' Combination a very welcome addition to any Dark Magician Deck.

Not just that, but if the card is sent from the Field to the Graveyard while face-up, it can destroy any card on the Field without Targeting, which is one of the best forms of removal. In Master Duel, with so many hard to interact with Boss Monster running around, this kind of removal is incredibly powerful, and something Dark Magician will find itself taking advantage of quite a bit.

9. Apprentice Illusion Magician

Every Archetype appreciates a card that can search. When Apprentice Illusion Magician is Summoned, it can add a Dark Magician from the Deck to the Hand. It can Special Summon itself from the Hand as well at the low cost of discarding one card.

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It has a bonus effect that if a Dark Spellcaster Monster battles, Apprentice Illusion Magician can send itself to the Graveyard and give that Monster 2000 Attack and Defense during the Damage Calculation of that battle. With Link Summoning in the game, being able to get a free Link Material on the Field is always welcome, which makes Apprentice Illusion Magician one of the best Dark Magician cards.

8. Dark Magic Expanded

Dark Magic Expanded is a Quick-Play Spell card that has multiple effects based on the number of Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girls in the Graveyard. If one or more is there, it gives a Dark Spellcaster Monsters 1000 Attack for the rest of the turn. If there are two or more, the opponent cannot activate cards in response to Spell, Trap, and effect activations. Spell and Trap cards cannot be destroyed either for that turn. And lastly, if there are three or more, all Dark Spellcaster Monsters are unaffected by the opponent's card effects.

All effects can be used with one activation, allowing Dark Magic Expanded to give plenty of protection to its user's board. In Master Duel, these multiple effects come in handy. Since it's a best of one format, the versatility of Dark Magic Expanded is welcomed in Dark Magician Decks.

7. Dark Magical Circle

The card that broke Dark Magician Decks in Duel Links, Dark Magical Circle is great in the TCG as well. When it's activated, its user can look at the top three cards of their Deck and add Dark Magician or a Spell or Trap card that lists it specifically to the hand. In addition, if Dark Magician is Summoned while Dark Magical Circle is on the Field, it allows its controller to banish one card the opponent controls.

Since it's a Continuous Effect, the effect is a lot harder to negate. This makes it so Dark Magical Circle can get rid of problem cards easily and permanently, only needing to Summon Dark Magician, something quite easy to do. It's a card that not many players will focus on getting off the field quickly, and will in turn help set up for the banishing of the opponents Monsters

6. Magician's Rod

Magician's Rod is probably the best Normal Summon Dark Magician decks have. Upon Normal Summoning it, Magician's Rod can add a Spell and Trap card that specifically lists Dark Magician to the hand. This allows it to add a plethora of cards that can really turn the tide of a duel around.

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Magician's Rod can also recycle itself from the Graveyard. If its user activates a Spell or Trap card while it's in the Graveyard, its controller can Tribute a Spellcaster Monster to add Magician's Rod back to the Hand. This allows it to be Normal Summoned again, and continuously repeat the cycle.

5. Magician Of Dark Illusion

Magician Of Dark Illusion is an incredibly easy-to-Summon Monster, and can very quickly snowball Duels in its user's favor. While it can be Normal Summoned, Magician Of Dark Illusion can be Special Summoned from the hand by simply activating a Spell or Trap card during the opponent's turn.

Once on the Field, if a Spell or Trap card is activated (or an effect is used), it can target a Dark Magician in the Graveyard and Special Summon it. When combined with Dark Magical Circle, this can lead to a ton of Banishing while gaining Monsters to Attack with or use for Extra Deck material like Dark Magician Fusion cards. For Master Duel players, the opponent won't be able to counterplay this well, as they'll be lacking the tools in order to stop it.

4. The Dark Magicians

The Dark Magicians is quite a versatile Fusion Monster. Once per turn, if any Spell or Trap Card is activated (including the opponent's), it allows its user to draw a card, and Set it if it was a Spell or Trap card. This Set card can be activated during that same turn. When combined with Deck stacking cards like Dark Magical Circle, this allows Dark Magician decks to very easily draw into cards they may need, including more disruption for the opponent's turn.

Even if The Dark Magician gets destroyed, it can float into both Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl from the hand, deck, or Graveyard, making it one of the best Dark Magician Fusion cards. In Master Duel, it's already easy to thin out your deck thanks to cards like Maxx "C," and The Dark Magicians' effect will only help you to get to your key cards quicker.

3. Eternal Soul

The best Trap card Dark Magician Decks have access to, Eternal Soul is a simple but efficient card for the Archetype. Once per turn, Eternal Soul can either Special Summon a Dark Magician from the hand or Graveyard, or add a Dark Magic Attack or Thousand Knives from the deck to the hand.

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In addition, Eternal Soul offers protection to every Dark Magician on the Field, as it makes them unaffected by the opponent's card effects. The downside is that if Eternal Soul leaves the Field, all Monsters on the Field are destroyed. This downside is generally worth it, as many powerful cards can be treated as Dark Magician and give them powerful protection. If you're playing in Master Duel, since there is no sideboarding Eternal Soul is much better, as the odds of running into Spell and Trap removal is even lower.

2. Magicians' Souls

Magicians' Souls does a whole lot. It has two effects. If it is on the Field, its controller can send up to two Spells or Traps from the Hand to the Graveyard to draw that many cards. In addition, it can send a Level Six or higher Spellcaster Monster from the Deck to the Graveyard to either Special Summon itself, or send itself to the Graveyard to Special Summon a Dark Magician or Dark Magician Girl from the Graveyard.

This can get a free Dark Magician onto the Field, or Spell and Trap cards into the Graveyard with powerful effects there. It adds a large level of consistency to Dark Magicians, which Master Duel players will appreciate due to its best of one format. Magicians' Souls is a must-run in the best Dark Magician decks.

1. Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon

Despite having Red-Eyes in the name, Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon is a Dark Magician card as well, with the Fusion Material for it requiring Dark Magician. The card can not be destroyed by card effects or Targeted by them. During the Main Phase, it can destroy Monsters the opponent controls equal to the number of Normal Monsters used for its Summon (most often two).

It can also negate a card or effect at the simple cost of discarding a card and gain Attack while doing so. Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon is incredibly hard to get rid of, with multiple power effects to make it not just the best Dark Magician card, but one of the best cards in the game.

Be warned, players of Master Duel, however. Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon is so good, it's banned in the game, making in inaccessible for any decks to use.

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Throughout the game, there are many Archetypes that dominated the scene at one point or another, taking advantage of a new mechanic that hadn't been countered yet. Fusion Summoning has been around so long that the counters and support have been exposed for the most part, leaving you with reliable choices that use push the mechanic to its limits, quickly taking down any opponents who aren't prepared.

7. Ancient Gears

Ancient Gears rely heavily upon fusion to achieve their maximum output, so much so they have ''Ancient Gear Fusion'', a card that gives them options for fusion material. It isn't as hard-focused on the mechanic as other archetypes, but its entire roster of powerful offense relies on it.

The great thing about the fusion summoned elite of the Ancient Gear archetype is its punishing effect of putting your opponent's team on ice until they're done dealing damage, neutralizing any trap/spell cards while attacking. Crumbling all the defensive planning you might face sets up Ancient Gear's two biggest hitters, Chaos Ancient Gear Giant and Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem, each owning over 4000 attacks with very few ways to stop them.

6. Frightfur

Combining the innocent, charming quality of the Fluffal creatures with the twisted aesthetic of the Edge Imps, Frightfur monsters are some of the most unique in the game. The entire concept of this archetype is fusion, and the wide array of devastating effects you get from each monster makes them frustrating to defend against.

From compounding damage boosts to impassable protection, knowing your deck inside and out is important with this chaotic lineup. One of the main draws to using Frightfur is the constant flow of monsters being summoned to the field, or dragged from your opponents' graveyard, offering plenty of fusion material for the demented creature you want to summon.

5. Blue-Eyes

Easily the most recognizable archetype, known to anyone who's set eyes on a Yu-Gi-Oh! product. This archetype hasn't changed much since the first deck was printed, offering a full-on offensive attack that most cards can't stand up to. While they have added support options, Blue-Eyes leave themselves vulnerable to deliver the biggest attack possible, requiring some backup.

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Using the fusion summon monsters in Blue-Eyes starts to feel like you're throwing around serious weight, from destroying enemy cards per turn to dealing out over 6000 damage per battle phase. The Blue-Eyes variation's power is on full display when you have Dragon Master Knight, a card that has 5000 attack and defense, and you can still beat out the damage with the effects another card can give you.

4. Luna Light

Consistency is key with this archetype, giving the enemy constant problems to deal with throughout the battle. Damage accumulation is the name of the game, slicing away at your opponents' life points until you can bring out the big guns. Sometimes you even keep the opponent's weaker monsters in battle so you can attack them multiple times to deal even more damage.

All this leads up to the main purpose of this archetype, summoning Lunalight Leo Dancer. Not only is this card protected from any card effects, but it also destroys all enemy special summoned monsters when it attacks, taking out any heavy offense before attacking a second time with 3500 damage. Designed to be a big build-up, there are shortcuts to getting this card on the field quickly, stopping your opponent's game plans in their tracks.

3. HERO

An overarching archetype that has many sub-archetypes within, the HERO cards can all work together in a linked play style. When Elemental Heroes first came on the scene, crowding the battlefield with fusion monster after fusion monster was the main strategy. Now, HERO cards have sophisticated combinations that can leave your enemy defenseless all in the matter of a turn.

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The HERO archetype has some of the loosest restrictions on fusion summoning, with so many combinations of fusion that create entirely different but powerful monsters. There are many options to the top with this archetype, your enemy will run out of life points long before they can close off all path to your most effective Heroes like Malicious Bane, usually leading to a field wipe and quick OTK.

2. Invoked

One of the most practical archetypes, cutting down on fusion materials to produce monsters at a breakneck speed. It all starts with Aleister the Invoker, then searching for Invocation, a fusion spell that summons any monsters from your deck using material from your hand. Fusion Summoning an Invoked monster also lets you banish from your own or your opponents' graveyard, locking off any powerful recycled tactics they had in store.

Dealing exclusively in fusion monsters,the Invoked archetype is usually played in combination with another structure deck to use as material. Choosing the right archetype to offer powerful fusion summon options can turn Aleister the Invoker into a summoning machine, giving you access to monsters you would have been waiting for until the end game.

1. Prank-Kids

On top of being a great design, Prank-Kids offer some of the best coverage for fusion summons in the game. The low-level monster cards constantly draw each other back to life from the graveyard, giving you material for fusion summons and activating their unique effects once they are out of play.

You can even clear the field if you want to sacrifice your most powerful fusion summon monster, Prank-Kids Battle Butler, opening up your opponent to the monsters brought back from the graveyard. A key difference in Prank-Kids is the low-level monsters effects, constantly supporting gameplay and offering the biggest positive in the archetype.

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Among these is Virtual World, a Synchro-focused Archetype, built around climbing up into high-Level Synchro Monsters. They can generally very easily end with cards like True King Of All Calamities and other Floodgates on the field to completely shut down the opponent on their turn.

10. Virtual World Hime - Nyannyan

Virtual World Hime - Nyannyan is one of the cards that allow Virtual World to be able to go into their high-Level Synchro Monsters. When it's in the Graveyard, you can special summon it anytime a Level Three Monster is summoned onto the field. When it's summoned this way, Virtual World Hime - Nyannyan becomes a Tuner Monster.

Since there are plenty of Level Three Monsters Virtual World decks will be playing, using this effect will happen in practically every single duel. Virtual World Hime - Nyannyan is a must-run in Virtual World decks, and one of its best Tuners.

9. Virtual World Xiezhi - Jiji

Virtual World Xiezhi - Jiji is one of the easiest cards to summon onto the field. All you have to do is target a Virtual World card on the field and send a card of a different type from the deck to the Graveyard to special summon it. Alternatively, you can easily normal summon it to allow other Virtual World Monsters with similar effects to get going.

Virtual World Xiezhi - Jiji has a bit of a slower effect on its special summon, as it allows you to put a Virtual World Monsters from your Graveyard back into your hand.

8. Virtual World Kirin - Lili

Virtual World Kirin - Lili has the same special summon effect that most other Virtual Monsters have, targeting a card to send a card of a different type to the Graveyard to special summon itself. Virtual World Kirin - Lili lets you dump two cards into the Graveyard for its effect.

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Plenty of Virtual World cards like being in the Graveyard, as others rely on themselves being there, or banishing cards from there to trigger their effects. Virtual World Kirin - Lili not only puts a body on the field for Synchro and Xyz plays, but also helps set up the Graveyard for your other Virtual World Monsters.

7. Virtual World Roshi - Laolao

Virtual World Roshi - Laolao is one of Virtual World's combo extenders. It has the effect to special summon itself from the hand by sending a Virtual World card of a different type from a targeting Virtual World card. Once it hits the field, Virtual World Roshi - Laolao can special summon another Virtual World Monsters from the Graveyard that wasn't sent there with its own effect.

This allows Virtual World Roshi- Laolao to bring back Virtual World Monsters to either go into Level Nine Synchro Monsters by using its Tuner or to make one of their Rank Six Monsters if it revives another Level Six one.

6. Virtual World Gate - Chuche

Virtual World Gate - Chuche is one of the only Trap cards available in the Virtual World Archetype, and it's also their best Trap card. It can be placed directly onto the field with other Virtual World cards, which gets around one of the common weaknesses Trap cards inherently have.

Once it's on the field, Virtual World Gate - Chuche shuffles two of your banished Virtual World cards into the deck to destroy a card on the field. This not only lets you recycle your banished Virtual World cards but also lets you disrupt the opponent's turn to stop them before they snowball out into their combo.

5. Virtual World Gate - Qinglong

The sole Continuous Spell card in the Virtual World arsenal, Virtual World Gate - Qinglong is a solid piece of the Virtual World Archetype. It's helpful when you're going second, as by banishing a Virtual World card from your Graveyard, you can negate the effects of a Monster the opponent controls for the rest of the turn.

Since it's one of the only Spell cards, Virtual World gate, Qinglong is great for setting up the special summon effects of other Virtual World Monsters. You'll always have Monster cards you can send, which is what makes Virtual World Gate - Qinglong such a staple in Virtual World decks.

4. Virtual World Phoenix - Fanfan

Virtual World Phoenix - Fanfan is one of the Xyz Monsters that Virtual World has access to, and it's the best one in the Archetype. It requires two or more Level Six Monsters to Xyz summon, and once it hits the field, offers some of the best removal in the game. By detaching two materials from it, you can banish an opponent's card and a card in either player's Graveyard.

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Banishing is one of the best kinds of removals in the game, as not very many decks can interact with cards there. It can also disrupt your opponent by taking a card they need in the Graveyard out of there, potentially shutting down their entire strategy.

3. Virtual World Kyubi - Shenshen

Virtual World Kyubi - Shenshen is the Level Nine Synchro of the Archetype, and easily its best. When it's on the field, any card that would be sent from the field or the Graveyard is banished instead. This Floodgate effect is so good, it can completely shut down entire decks with it alone.

Virtual World Kyubi - Shenshen is very hard to get rid of once it's Synchro Summoned as well. If it's in the Graveyard, you can banish two Monsters of different Types and Attributes to special summon it back. It also has a high statline as well, making it that much harder to deal with.

2. Virtual World City - Kauwloon

Virtual World City - Kauwloon is the only Normal Spell card in the Archetype, but it's one of the reasons the deck is as consistent as it is. Virtual World City - Kauwloon allows you to put a Virtual World Gate card (their Continuous Spell and Trap cards) directly onto the field. This allows you to easily set up for Virtual World special summons.

Virtual World City - Kauwloon is so good since it allows you to easily play their Trap cards, allowing you to play them without having to Set them. While Virtual World City - Kauwloon has other effects, most of the time they will be irrelevant, since you'll always be playing it for its primary effect of putting a Virtual World Gate onto the field.

1. Virtual World Mai-Hime - Lulu

Virtual World Mai-Hime - Lulu is the only traditional Tuner that Virtual World has access to, and it's also the reason Virtual World is as good of a deck that it is. It has the Virtual World effect to special summon itself by sending a Virtual World card to the Graveyard, but has the best effect when it's summoned this way.

When Virtual World Mai-Hime - Lulu summons itself with its own effect, you can add a Virtual World card from your deck to your hand. It is the primary searcher for the deck, which allows you to then proceed into your main Synchro and Xyz plays.

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Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel has practically every Archetype and card ever released since Yu-Gi-Oh!'s creation. With so many cards available, it's easy to become overwhelmed by just how many options there are. One of the options for a deck is Thunder Dragon.

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Thunder Dragon is a series of Monsters inspired by the Monster of the same name from the early game. The Thunder Dragon Archetype are Monsters that are built around banishing themselves in order to trigger their effects. Afterward, they go into their Fusion Monsters, which are generally cheated out with their alternate summoning conditions. Thunder Dragon is much more viable in Master Duel thanks to its different banlist from the TCG.

10. Thunder Dragonlord

Arguably the weakest Thunder Dragon Monster, Thunder Dragonlord is still good enough that most builds of the deck still run at least one of them. It can only be special summoned, requiring you to banish a Level Eight or lower Thunder Monster from the field or Graveyard to do so.

Once on the field, Thunder Dragonlord can continue to proc Thunder Dragon effects by banishing them out from the Graveyard. This effect also offers some protection as well, preventing a Thunder Monster from being targeted. At the End Phase, Thunder Dragonlord can even act as a Foolish Burial and dump a Thunder Dragon card into the Graveyard.

9. Thunder Dragonmatrix

Thunder Dragonmatrix is not that great of a card at first glance. However, what makes it good is that it is a Thunder Monster with a very easy effect to activate. By discarding it, you can have a Thunder Monster gain 500 Attack.

The Boss Monsters of the Thunder Dragon Archetype rely on Thunder Monsters using their effects that turn. Thunder Dragonmatrix is one of the easiest activation requirements to meet, making it a usual three-of in any Thunder Dragon build. It can even add more copies of itself to the hand if it's banished or sent from the field to the Graveyard.

8. Thunder Dragon

Despite being a card from 2002 in the second-ever Yu-Gi-Oh! Set, Thunder Dragon still sees play to this day. Since the Thunder Dragon Archetype is based around the card, Thunder Dragon slots in perfectly in Thunder Dragon decks.

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While initially used as deck thinning and Chaos fodder, Thunder Dragon shares a similar purpose to Thunder Dragonmatrix. Thunder Dragon is a card with an easy-to-use effect and one that can be used multiple times a turn. Thunder Dragon will generally never be dead in your hand, making it a fantastic card for Thunder Dragon decks.

7. Thunder Dragon Fusion

Thunder Dragon Fusion is the in-Archetype Fusion card for Thunder Dragons. It synergizes with Thunder Dragons quite well, as it can use materials from the field, Graveyard, and face-up in the banished area. This allows you to use materials for their effects to then fuse into the powerful Thunder Dragon Fusion Monsters.

It can get a secondary use the turn after it's used as well. By banishing it, you can add any Thunder Dragon Monster to your hand. Thunder Dragon Fusion isn't the main way you'll be Fusion summoning Thunder Dragons, it's a card you'll have no issue with using.

6. Thunder Dragonduo

In a reference to one of Thunder Dragon's original uses, Thunder Dragonduo is an in-Archetype Chaos Monster. In order to summon it, all you have to do is banish a Light and Dark Monster from your Graveyard. This not only gets a body onto the field, but triggers the effects of the Thunder Dragon Monsters you banished to summon it.

Thunder Dragonduo can even search out for more Thunder Monsters if it destroys a Monster by battle. It can even recycle other banished cards by putting them onto the top or bottom of your deck.

5. Thunder Dragondark

Thunder Dragondark is the retrained version of the original Thunder Dragon. Like it, Thunder Dragondark can discard itself to add another copy of itself to the hand. Unlike Thunder Dragon, Thunder Dragndark has a secondary effect that makes it the main searcher of the Archetype.

Whenever it is banished or sent from the field to the Graveyard, it can add any Thunder Dragon card to your hand. While you can only use one of these effects per turn, that will likely never come up as you'll board will already be all set when it's time to use another Thunder Dragondark effect.

4. Thunder Dragonroar

Thunder Dragonroar is a very versatile card, and one that makes it easier to recycle your Monsters. By discarding it, Thunder Dragonroar can add a Thunder Dragon to your hand from your Graveyard or banished zone.

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Thunder Dragonroar's more prominent effect is the one it gets when it is banished. This allows you to special summon any Thunder Dragon Monster from the deck. While it returns to the hand, you'll often not keep it around for long as you'll use it for Extra Deck fodder instead. Since Thunder Dragon Monsters trigger when they're sent from the field to the Graveyard as well, this makes Thunder Dragonroar even more important.

3. Thunder Dragonhawk

Thunder Dragonhawk is a simple Thunder Dragon card, and one that is great for recycling your Thunder Dragon Monsters. By discarding it, you can special summon a Thunder Dragon Monster from your Graveyard or banished zone to the field. Since many Thunder Dragons have powerful effects when they're sent to the Graveyard as well as banished, Thunder Dragonhawk lets you essentially re-use whichever one you need.

If it is banished, you can mulligan your hand, allowing for more consistency to get important cards to your hand. Thunder Dragonhawk is such a good card, it is currently limited on the Master Duel banlist.

2. Thunder Dragon Titan

Thunder Dragon Titan is one of the main Boss Monsters for Thunder Dragon decks. It can either be Fusion Summoned with three Thunder Dragon Monsters, or by banishing a Thunder Monster from your hand and a Fusion Thunder Monster on your field.

Once it hits the field, it can destroy a card on the field whenever a Thunder Monster's effect is used. Since this effect isn't once per turn, Thunder Dragon Titan can practically wipe an entire field all on its own. It has built-in protection as well, as it can banish two cards from the Graveyard to protect it from destruction by effect.

1. Thunder Dragon Colossus

Thunder Dragon Colossus is one of the reasons why Thunder Dragons decks are so good. In fact, Thunder Dragon Colossus is so good it's currently banned in the TCG, though Master Duel has it limited to one copy per deck. It can be Fusion Summoned or by tributing a non-effect Thunder Monster the turn a Thunder Monster's effect was activated.

Once it's on the field, Thunder Dragon Colossus prevents the opponent from adding cards from their hand except by drawing and has built-in protection for itself, only requiring you to banish a Thunder Monster to keep it from being destroyed by battle or card effect. This shuts down a ton of decks, and is why Thunder Dragon Colossus is so good.

Disclosure: As an eBay Partner, I may be compensated if you make a purchase.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel is a truly rewarding, digitized version of the ever-popular TCG for every fan that was patient enough to wait for it. The game has a fantastic economy, especially compared to other similar online card games, allowing for an easy free-to-play experience.

RELATED: Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel: 10 Best Shaddoll Cards

In Master Duel, each card has a rarity attached to it. While N and R cards are easy to come by, SR cards are a bit harder to get access to. A lot of notable staples for archetypes are SR, as well as generically good cards. These particular cards are the ones you should be crafting first, as they'll have a long-term meta impact.

10. D.D. Crow

D.D. Crow is a Hand Trap that, at the cost of simply discarding it, can banish a card out of the opponent's Graveyard at any point. This effect is simple but deceptively powerful.

In modern Yu-Gi-Oh!, many decks heavily rely on the Graveyard in order to perform their combos. D.D. Crow can throw a wrench into their plans, especially since it hits both Monster and Spell and Trap cards. This gives it an extra layer of versatility, making it a solid Hand Trap to always have in your arsenal.

9. Ice Dragon's Prison

Ice Dragon's Prison is a staple Trap card that slots into just about any Control deck. Many decks in Yu-Gi-Oh! utilize cards that generally share the same Type as each other, which is what makes Ice Dragon's Prison so good.

This Trap card lets you Special Summon a Monster from the opponent's Graveyard, and then send a card on your field (which can be the one you Summoned) as well as your opponent's so long as they share the same Type. It doesn't target either, so Ice Dragon's Prison gets around almost every kind of protection in the game.

8. Twin Twisters

Twin Twisters is the upgraded version of the iconic Mystical Space Typhoon. It does require you to discard a card to use, but as a trade-off it allows you to destroy two Spell or Trap cards on the field.

RELATED: Yu-Gi-Oh!: 10 Non-Meta Decks That Players Still Love

The cost to discard might not even be a downside, as it can set up your Graveyard if you're playing a Graveyard-centric deck. There are plenty of problematic backrow cards in the format, so having a solid card to take care of those will always be a safe craft, especially since it's safe from the banlist.

7. Summon Limit

If you hate decks summoning a bunch of Monsters in one turn, then Summon Limit is the card for you. It's one of the most powerful Floodgates in the entire game, especially in Control decks where you aren't summoning many Monsters to begin with.

Summon Limit only allows for each player to Summon no more than two Monsters during a turn. Negated summons also count towards this limit, making cards like Solemn Judgement that much better. Summon Limit is the perfect card for any Control players, so if you like slow, grindy decks then it's a must-craft.

6. Droll & Lock Bird

Droll & Lock Bird is a card that has been in and out of the meta since its release, and that will likely continue to happen as long as people are playing the game. Its power depends on the meta, and if there are cards in it that constantly add cards from the deck to your hand.

It completes shut down the ability to do just that, locking the opponent out of searching their deck after their first search. When the meta gets out of hand, Droll & Lock Bird always shows up, so having it in your Master Duel inventory when that happens is a must if you want to combat it.

5. Knightmare Phoenix

The Knightmare lineup of Link Monsters contains some of the most played Extra Deck Monsters in the entire game. Knightmare Phoenix sits as one of the best of the Knightmares, as it allows any deck to have easy access to Spell and Trap removal.

It requires generic Materials, the only stipulation is that they have different names. If it's ever co-linked when you use its effect, you get to draw a card to replace the one you had to discard. The generic nature of Knightmare Phoenix is what makes it so good, and such a safe investment for Master Duel.

4. Pot Of Extravagance

Pot Of Extravagance is one of the many Pot cards available in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel, and is one of the best. It slots into any deck that doesn't need to make hefty use of the Extra Deck, since it randomly banishes cards from there to use its effect.

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However, if a deck doesn't need the Extra Deck, then Pot Of Extravagance is essentially a Pot Of Greed. Drawing cards is incredibly powerful in Yu-Gi-Oh!, so being able to draw with essentially no downside makes Pot of Extravagance a must-craft staple card.

3. Skill Drain

Skill Drain is one of the best Floodgates in all of Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel. In the TCG it's Limited, but in Master Duel it is completely unrestricted, allowing for three copies to be played in a deck. The card was Limited for a reason, and in Master Duel its power is even stronger with the wider card pool.

Monster effects are a staple of modern Yu-Gi-Oh!, so having a card that completely shuts them down is incredibly powerful. Skill Drain is perfect for Control decks that primarily run backrow and little Monsters, as losing their Monster effects will hardly matter.

2. Pot Of Prosperity

When Pot of Prosperity was released, it instantly became one of the best Pot Spell cards ever printed. It's similar to Pot of Extravagance, but you get to choose the card you banish from your Extra Deck. Not only that, but you excavate and choose a card excavated rather than drawing randomly.

In many cases, this is much stronger as you have much more control over the outcome. Pot of Prosperity lets you dig through your deck and pick out the exact card you need for any given situation, making it a powerful SR card investment.

1. Evenly Matched

Evenly Matched is one of the best Trap cards ever printed. It's the perfect card for going second decks, as it can completely dismantle entire boards if it's used properly.

Evenly Matched banishes cards facedown, which in Yu-Gi-Oh! almost always means they're gone forever. When combined with mass negates like Dark Ruler No More, Evenly Matched can wipe the opponent's field and punish long-winded combo decks easily. Evenly Matched is the best SR staple card in Master Duel, and is a must-craft as soon as you can if you're planning on playing decks you want to play second.

Disclosure: As an eBay Partner, I may be compensated if you make a purchase.

"Blue-Eyes White Dragon" is perhaps the most iconic monster in all of Yu-Gi-Oh! Its fame has allowed it to be recognized by almost anyone familiar with pop culture. It also was a main monster from the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime, which is normally a death sentence when it comes to viable archetypes with the original anime.

RELATED: Yu-Gi-Oh! The 15 Best Link Monsters In The Game's History, Ranked

However, the "Blue-Eyes" archetype wound up surprising everyone, with the archetype having some sort of competitive relevance for years, be it as an engine or as a Deck itself. "Blue-Eyes" even won Worlds (the largest Yu-Gi-Oh! event) in 2016. Many "Blue-Eyes" cards are great, and these are the best the game has to offer.

10. Blue-Eyes White Dragon

Despite being a vanilla monster with no effects, "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" still is arguably the best vanilla monster in the entire game. "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" is useful in "Blue-Eyes" Decks, and also outside of it thanks to its level of 8. This allows it to be used with "Trade-In" for extra draws while being searchable with many cards. Even though it's a vanilla monster, it's still a threat when it hits the field (which it's easy to cheat out in a "Blue-Eyes" Deck) thanks to its high attack, which is still the highest attack out of any vanilla monster in the game.

9. The White Stone Of Legend

"The White Stone Of Legend" was one of the first Tuner Monsters for the "Blue-Eyes" archetype, allowing it to go into Level 9 Synchro Monsters incredibly easily. It also allows for "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" to get into your hand easily, as it can add it if it goes to the Graveyard by any means. One of these ways is with "Cards Of Consonance" which can discard "The White Stone Of Legend" to draw 2 cards while adding "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" to maintain tempo and accumulate fantastic card advantage. Its great discard fodder and a great Tuner.

8. Dragon Spirit Of White

"Dragon Spirit Of White" has a unique effect where it's treated as a Normal Monster while in the Hand or Graveyard, allowing it to be used with cards like "Cosmo Brain." When it's on the field, it can also tag out by Tributing itself in order to summon a "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" from your Hand so long as your opponent controls a monster.

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"Dragon Spirit Of White" can also banish a Spell or Trap card your opponent controls when its summoned, making a great interruption tool against Decks that play a lot of problem Spell or Trap cards.

7. Maiden With Eyes Of Blue

While perhaps a little past its prime, "Maiden With Eyes Of Blue" can still prove to be a problem to get rid of without allowing a "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" to come out for free. "Maiden With Eyes Of Blue's" effect can even be triggered with various "Blue-Eyes" cards yourself to get "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" on the field that can immediately be used for a Level 9 Synchro Summon with "Maiden With Eyes Of Blue" and "Blue-Eyes White Dragon." The only way to get rid of it without triggering "Maiden With Eyes Of Blue's" effect is to remove it by non-Targeting means, as it even triggers if Targeting for an attack.

6. Master With Eyes Of Blue

"Master With Eyes Of Blue" has a whole lot it can do, which is what makes it so good. "Master With Eyes Of Blue" can recycle your "Blue-Eyes" Tuners (or any Level 1 Light Tuner such as "Effect Veiler") on its Normal Summon. It can also shuffle itself back into the Deck from the Graveyard to Target and send an Effect Monster you control to the Graveyard to Special Summon any "Blue-Eyes" Monster except the sent Monster. This can recycle any "Blue-Eyes" card while triggering the effects of the Monster sent to the Grave such as "Maiden With Eyes Of Blue."

5. Sage With Eyes Of Blue

"Sage With Eyes Of Blue" is another Tuner with tons of versatility. On its Normal Summon it can search out any Level 1 Light Tuner in the game, be it a "Blue-Eyes" one or a Hand Trap like "Effect Veiler." It can also Special Summon any "Blue-Eyes" Monster from your Deck by discarding "Sage With Eyes Of Blue" and Targetting and sending an Effect Monster in your control to the Grave (which can trigger its effects while fetching a free replacement body).

RELATED: Yu-Gi-Oh!: The 10 Best Dragon Monsters In The Game, Ranked

The ability to Special Summon from the Deck is one of the best in the game, so it only makes sense the "Sage With Eyes Of Blue" is one of the best "Blue-Eyes" cards.

4. The White Stone Of Ancients

The best "Blue-Eyes" Tuner, "The White Stone Of Ancients" seems relatively innocent at first. If it stays in the Graveyard the turn its sent there, you are able to Special Summon any "Blue-Eyes" Monster from the Deck. You can also banish "The White Stone Of Ancients" from the Graveyard to add any "Blue-Eyes" card from the Graveyard to your Hand. This means you can recycle Monsters that are used for Synchro Summons or detached as Xyz Material right back into your Hand in order to re-use them right away. Having a "Blue-Eyes" card in your Hand is something a "Blue-Eyes" Deck always wants to have, making "The White Stone Of Ancients" so good.

3. Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon

"Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon" was one of the reasons "Blue-Eyes" was able to take Worlds back in 2016. Many cards in Yu-Gi-Oh! utilize Graveyard effects, of which "Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon" can negate one of those effects for no cost once per turn. "Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon" can also Tribute itself to Special Summon any Light Dragon Type Synchro Monster in Defense Position, though it is destroyed at the end of the turn. There is so much use for "Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon," and since it's Level 9 it's incredibly easy for "Blue-Eyes" Decks to make.

2. Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon

"Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon" is one of the best Ritual Monsters in the game, thanks to its Level, ability, and how easy it is to summon. Since its Level 8, it can be used with "Trade-In" like "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" and its Attack lets it get to the Hand with "Melody Of Awakening Dragon." Since its a Ritual Monster, it has tons of support to get it onto the field thanks to the "Impcantation" Monsters.

Once "Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon" comes into play, it can run over almost every Monster in the game, while being immune to Targetting and Destruction. It also does Double Piercing Damage to Defense Positions Monsters, and with its 4000 Attack that means that it can take out the opponent in just one hit.

1. Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon

"Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon" is by far the best "Blue-Eyes" card in the entire game and the card that made the Deck viable. It's incredibly easy to Summon, only requiring a "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" to be revealed in your Hand. On the field, it can Target and Destroy a Monster at the cost of not being able to Attack with it. However, that downside can be easily avoided, as it can simply be used for a Synchro or Xyz Summon and then later recycled back to the Hand with "The White Stone Of Ancients." Its incredibly powerful, and the best "Blue-Eyes" card.

The game of Yu-Gi-Oh! has had many different metas, Decks, and cards that have shaped the game's history. The game is over twenty years old and shows no signs of stopping. As such, many different Decks have risen above the rest to leave their marks on Yu-Gi-Oh! history.

RELATED: Yu-Gi-Oh!: 10 Old Powerful Cards That Are Not Played Anymore

There have been many playstyles and archetypes through the years, and some were by far the strongest Deck in their format. This list will be ranking the best Decks based on their peak in their respective format, rather than how they would all fare in the current metagame. From first-turn kills to completely locking your opponent out of the game, these Decks are the best that Yu-Gi-Oh! has ever seen.

15 Qliphort

Key Cards: Apoqliphort Towers, Qliphort Scout, Qliphort Genuis

Qliphort was one of the few meta Pendulum-based Archetypes Yu-Gi-Oh! has introduced. During its time, Qliphort was such a good Deck due to how easy it could bring back its entire Field after it was destroyed by Pendulum Summoning them back.

Its Boss Monster, Apoqliphort Towers was so infamously powerful that a Monster that's unaffected by card effects is referred to as a Towers. The recursion Qliphort had access to made it incredibly strong against other Decks at the time and was part of the reason many people had grown a hatred for the Pendulum mechanic.

Qliphort had originally fallen off after the banning of Apoqliphort Towers and limiting of Qliphort Scout and Saqlifice. However, Qliphort's restrictions have been completely taken away recently, and are able to be played at full power. While they are nerfed due to the changes to Pendulum Summoning, they are still a solid Rouge option.

14 Sky Striker

Key Cards: Sky Striker Ace - Raye, Sky Striker Mobilize - Engage!, Sky Striker Ace - Kagari

Sky Striker immediately set its place in the meta upon its release, turning into one of the strongest Control Decks ever. Sky Striker only had one Main Deck Monster in Sky Striker Ace - Raye at release. The card was easily recycled any time a Sky Striker Link Monster was taken off the Field, which could then be used to Link Summon again.

The Sky Striker Spell Cards have incredibly powerful effects, most notably Sky Striker Mobilize - Engage which not only drew a card but searched out any Sky Striker card at the same time. Sky Striker has gotten new cards in Sky Striker Ace - Zeke and Sky Striker Ace - Roze to power up the Deck even more with their restricted cards freed off the banlist.

While Sky Strikers have fallen off recently due to better Control Decks coming up, it's more than likely Sky Striker will make a comeback once those leave the metagame. Sky Striker was the best Yu-Gi-Oh! Deck that focused on Spell cards to control the field, and due to how hard it is to interact with Spells, it's due for a metagame comeback.

13 Six Samurai

Key Cards: Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En, Gateway Of The Six, Battle Shogun of the Six Samurai

Six Samurai was an incredibly powerful Deck in its prime thanks to Gateway Of The Six. The Spell Card broke the Deck, being able to loop Six Samurai cards that could Special Summon themselves to get an infinite amount of counters.

RELATED: 10 Yu-Gi-Oh! Monsters That Should Fuse Together But Don't

This allowed Six Samurai to set up just about any kind of Board they wanted to. Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En and Great Shogun Shien were both fantastic cards to shut down the opponent's Spell and Trap card usage. Six Samurai could flood the Field easily which made for absolutely devastating end boards.

The limiting of Gateway Of The Six killed the viability in the metagame, becoming too inconsistent to rely on. Luckily, its newer Link Monster Battle Shogun of the Six Samurai adds much-needed consistency by allowing you to search out Gateway from your Deck. While it hasn't reclaimed its metagame glory, with a new card Six Samurai has the potential to become one of the strongest Yu-Gi-Oh! Decks in the meta once more.

12 Burning Abyss

Key Cards: Dante, Traveler Of The Burning Abyss, Tour Guide From The Underworld, Beatrice, Lady Of The Eternal

Burning Abyss was a Deck that was released in the incredibly popular Duelist Alliance set. The Deck had incredible lasting power through the metagame, thanks to its powerful Monsters that could Special Summon themselves. Dante, Traveler Of The Burning Abyss is an incredibly strong card that dumped Burning Abyss cards into the Graveyard as a Cost, meaning it was guaranteed to do so even if it was negated.

All Burning Abyss cards had powerful Graveyard effects, which could be triggered on the opponent's turn thanks to Beatrice, Lady Of The Eternal. Many cards in the Burning Abyss Archetype were put on different parts on the banlist due to how powerful it was.

Burning Abyss isn't at the top of the metagame like it was in its prime, however, it maintains a good Yu-Gi-Oh! deck that can stand on its own in the modern game. In recent banlists, all Burning Abyss Monsters except for Beatrice, Lady Of The Eternal have been unlimited, allowing it to be played at near full power.

11 Spellbooks

Key Cards: Spellbook Of Judgement, Spellbook Of Knowledge, Spellbook Of Secrets

Spellbooks were so strong, they were the single thing that prevented Dragon Rulers from being a Tier Zero Deck. This was thanks to Spellbook Of Judgement which provided the Deck with an insane amount of card advantage, being able to add multiple Spellbook cards to the Hand.

The Deck utilized Jowgen The Spiritualist to completely lock the opponent out of Special Summoning while destroying all Special Summoned Monsters on the Field. Spellbooks were incredible at building up resources that were then used to dismantle the opponent's Field.

The banning of Spellbook Of Judgement would kill the dedicated Deck, though a Spellbook engine still sees play today. Namely, a small engine featuring Magician of Prophecy and Crowley, the First Propheseer in order to thin out your deck and draw cards.

10 Monarchs

Key Cards: The Monarchs Stormforth, Pantheism Of The Monarchs, Eidos The Underworld Squire

The winning Deck from the 2007 World Championship, Monarchs was when Yu-Gi-Oh! started to make the shift from a mix-mash of cards to focusing on Monsters apart of Archetypes (meaning they share a theme, as well as a naming convention). Monarchs were all about tribute summoning which would then allow them to use their powerful effects when they were summoned.

Monarch Decks utilized cards that could special summon themselves, such as Treeborn Frog and Cyber Dragon to then use their normal summon for the tribute of a Monarch card. It was one of the first Archetypes in all of Yu-Gi-Oh, and for good reason. It was the best Yu-Gi-Oh! Archetype at the time and remains one of the most powerful Decks for its meta.

Monarchs dominated the early days of Yu-Gi-Oh! However, they've become far too slow to be a consistent threat, despite their banned cards becoming fully restricted. Their effects are still solid, but tribute summoning is not something a Deck can handle as their main gimmick anymore.

9 Shaddoll

Key Cards: El Shaddoll Winda, Shaddoll Fusion, Shaddoll Hedgehog

The Duelist Alliance set of Yu-Gi-Oh! was a game-changer in 2014, and Shaddoll Decks were at the forefront. The Deck had access to two of the most powerful Fusion cards in the game in the way of Shaddoll Fusion and Super Polymerization. Shaddoll Fusion allows its user to use materials from the Deck if the opponent had a Monster special summoned from the Extra Deck (which is very common). Super Polymerization fuses from either side of the field, and no card in the game can react to it.

El Shaddoll Construct and El Shaddoll Winda are both incredibly powerful Fusion Monsters, both of which can be easily made. Shaddoll still sees play even to this day, with recent support in the Shaddoll Showdown Structure Deck with the Invoked engine.

Shaddoll cards had a history bouncing on and off the banlist, with all of them now unlimited. They offer a ton of consistency, and thanks to how splashable they are as an engine, they are one of the best Yu-Gi-Oh! archetypes. They can handle their own in the current meta, and while currently Rouge, can just as easily become fully meta once again.

8 Frog FTK

Key Cards: Substitoad, Mass Driver, Ronintoadin

Frog FTK was one of the most consistent FTKs in all of Yu-Gi-Oh! An FTK (first turn kill) is a Deck that defeats the opponent before they have a chance to play (hence the name). Substitoad and Ronintoadin made it incredibly easy to loop Frog cards to get them onto the field. Once there, cards like Mass Driver were used to do Burn damage to your opponent's Life Points until they had no more.

RELATED: Yu-Gi-Oh! The Best Dark Magician Cards, Ranked

Hand Traps weren't quite in the game either, making the FTK near impossible to stop. While Frogs themselves still see some play with Paleozoic cards, the FTK version would be taken out of the game with the banning of Substitoad and Mass Driver.

Due to how uninteractive FTKs are, they were incredibly powerful, which is why the Frog FTK was one of the best Yu-Gi-Oh! Decks ever released. The likelihood of either Substitoad or Mass Driver getting unbanned is zero, as the Frog FTK would dominate even in the much faster metagame.

7 Nekroz

Key Cards: Nekroz of Brionac, Shurit, Strategist of the Nekroz, Nekroz Kaleidoscope

Nekroz is without a doubt the most powerful Ritual Deck in all of Yu-Gi-Oh, and dominated the early 2015 metagame. Unlike many Ritual cards before it, Nekroz had effects that could be activated by discarding them to search for other key pieces to the strategy while still being amazing cards if they were ritual summoned.

They also had Shurit, Strategist Of The Nekroz, which could be used for the entire material needed for a ritual summon, as well as add a Warrior-Type Nekroz card to the hand when used this way. It also made use of the incredibly powerful Djinn Releaser Of Rituals which if used for a ritual summon, the opponent could not special summon Monsters as long as the Monster ritual summoned when Djinn was on the field.

Many Nekroz cards found themselves on the banlist which is why the Deck fell off in the first place. With the exception of Djinn Releaser Of Rituals, every other Nekroz card has become unlimited. It remains a Rouge deck, but a good Yu-Gi-Oh! deck for the metagame. It can still shut down entire strategies with its Floodgate-like effects.

6 Yata Lock

Key Cards: Yata-Garasu, Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy Of The End, Sangan/Witch Of The Black Forest

Yata Lock was one of the earliest decks in the game and is also directly responsible for the introduction of the Yu-Gi-Oh! banlist (before cards were only limited). It was focused around Yata-Garasu and Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy Of The End" The Yata Lock was obtained by having Chaos Emperor Dragon and either Sangan or Witch Of The Black Forest on the field. Chaos Emperor Dragon would activate its effect, which sends all cards on the field and both players' hands to the graveyard. This would trigger the floating effects Sangan or Witch Of The Black Forst to add Yata-Garasu to the hand. The player would then attack directly with Yata-Garasu, forcing the opponent to skip their next Draw Phase.

This meant that the victim of the Yata Lock would be unable to draw and have no cards in their hand to play with. Yata-Garasu would continue being summoned and attacking to keep the lock going. These lead to Yata-Garasu being banned and still is to this day.

The Yata Lock Deck died with the banning of its namesake. The cards that were used all received erratas making it impossible to perform in the way it once did. Even if all the cards were unbanned, it's still too slow to compete in the current meta. However, it's not to be understated just how phenomenal the Deck was and is by far one of the strongest Yu-Gi-Oh! Decks to ever be in the spotlight.

5 Spyral

Key Cards: SPYRAL Sleeper, SPYRAL Double Helix, SPYRAl Resort

When Spyral first came into the game at the end of the Xyz Era, they were far from anything special. However, when the Link Era began Spyral would become by far the best Deck in the format thanks to their powerful Link Monster Double Helix.

RELATED: Yu-Gi-Oh!: The 15 Best Archetypes In The Game's History

The Deck was capable of setting up incredibly powerful boards with cards that could easily loop their effects. Spyral also had a boss Monster Spyral Sleeper which if equipped with Last Resort, can destroy two cards on your opponent's field during either player's turn. If Spyral Resort is also on the field, both Sleeper and Last Resort couldn't be targeted, as Spyral Resort prevents targetting to any Spyral card that isn't itself.

Spyral would make a comeback with the release of Magician's Soul but would take a hit with the banning of Spyral Master Plan. This limited how the Deck could perform and took it out of the forefront of the meta. However, Spyral was still one of the strongest Yu-Gi-Oh! decks, managing to be top tier in two different formats years apart.

4 TeleDAD

Key Cards: Dark Armed Dragon, Emergency Teleport, Destiny HERO - Malicious

TeleDAD is a Deck based around the cards Emergency Teleport and Dark Armed Dragon. The Deck used a Hero engine with cards like Elemental Hero Stratos and Destiny Hero Malicious for Extra Deck Monsters while Emergency Teleport summoned Psychic Type tuners such as Krebons. Doing all of this would stack Dark attribute Monsters into the graveyard to meet Dark Armed Dragon's summoning condition of having exactly three Dark Monsters in the graveyard.

This effect was not once per turn, meaning if you had three Dark Armed Dragons in your hand you can summon all three. Dark Armed Dragon also could banish Dark Monsters after it was summoned to destroy cards on the field.

The Deck would die out after the banlist hits to both Dark Armed Dragon and Emergency Teleport. Emergency Teleport remains limited, but Dark Armed Dragon has become fully unbanned. While the Deck isn't playable anymore due to bans, it was by far the best Yu-Gi-Oh! Deck of its format.

3 Zoodiac

Key Cards: Zoodiac Whiptail, Zoodiac Drident, Zoodiac Barrage

Zoodiac is a series of Monsters with an interesting gimmick where any Zoodiac Monster could be used as the entire material for an Xyz summon of any Zoodiac Xyz Monster. Being able to skip an entire step in the Xyz summoning process was begging to be broken. Zoodiac Ratpier could special summon other copies of itself from the Deck if attached to an Xyz Monster which could then be used to Xyz summon into more Zoodiac cards.

Zoodiac Barrage could also be used to special summon any Zoodiac Monster from the Deck. Zoodiac Broadbull searches out any Beast-Warrior Monster in the game (that can be normal summoned). Zoodiac Drident can destroy any card on the field during either player's turn, proving to be much too powerful for the game to handle.

Zoodiac has been all over the banlist, with certain cards being legal determining Zoodiac's power in the metagame. Currently, there are too many important cards banned to keep Zoodiac in the metagame. All of Zoodiac Broadbull, Zoodiac Drident, and Zoodiac Barrage are banned, with Zoodiac Ratpier being limited.

2 Dragon Rulers

Key Cards: Blaster, Dragon Ruler of Infernos, Super Rejuvenation, Tidal, Dragon Ruler of Waterfalls

Dragon Rulers were by far the best Deck in its prime, with only Spellbooks being able to stand a chance against them. The Deck was insanely powerful, with Dragon Ruler cards being very generic and incredibly easy to recycle on top of being able to build a ton of card advantage.

RELATED: Yu-Gi-Oh!: The 10 Best Ritual Monsters In The Game, Ranked

All of the Dragon Rulers had baby versions of themselves that could special summon the adult Dragon Rulers from the Deck to easily start flooding the field. They were all level seven, and able to go into powerful Xyz Monsters, as well as other Synchro Monsters, level eight and up. All of the Dragon Rulers are currently banned, with only the Wind Type Tempest being limited.

Dragon Rulers are widely considered to be one of the best Yu-Gi-Oh! Archetypes of all time, and if they were all unbanned would likely dominate the meta all over again. The Dragon-Type is one of the most supported ones in the game, many of the best Yu-Gi-Oh! decks are Dragons, such as the Dragon Rulers.

1 PePe

Key Cards: Performapal Monkeyboard, Performapal Skullcrobat Joker, Performage Plushfire

PePe is short for Performapal Performage which was a series of Pendulum Monsters. So many cards in the PePe Deck were able to be searched out thanks to cards like Performapal Monkeyboar and Performapal Skullcrobat Joker. The Deck was able to flood the field with level four Monsters to go into all sorts of Xyz Monsters, and even rank up into Cyber Dragon Infinity with Tellarknight Ptolemaeus as a starting point.

PePe was so good that an emergency banlist had to be made to keep the meta fun and healthy with six different cards in the Deck hit by it. PePe has gone down in Yu-Gi-Oh! as the best Pendulum Deck in the game's history, and the best Yu-Gi-Oh! deck released.

While some cards from the PePe Deck have been released from the banlist, the deck would become Tier Zero once again should it ever go back to full power. The two parts of PePe proved to be some of the best Yu-Gi-Oh! Archetypes, and made the strongest Yu-Gi-Oh! Deck ever.

Disclosure: As an eBay Partner, I may be compensated if you make a purchase.

Fusion monsters have been around ever since the first Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG booster pack, Legend of Blue-Eyes White Dragon, was released back in 2002. Since then, there have been an abundant amount of fusion monsters creating all kinds of different combinations, with some monsters finally getting the ability to fuse together long after they had been introduced.

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But despite just how many different fusion monsters there are now, there are still many monsters that don't combine that still should, including monsters belonging to the same archetype as well as monsters longtime fans have expected to see combine for almost two decades.

10 Penguins

The Frog archetype has their own fusion, so it's about time Penguins got their chance to combine. Penguins did not officially start becoming an archetype until 2011 with the Generation Force booster pack, but the first Penguin cards introduced to the TCG were Penguin Knight and Penguin Soldier, whose effects laid the groundwork for the playstyle of the archetype.

A Penguin fusion could be a nod to the early start of the archetype by combining Penguin Knight and Penguin Soldier into a Penguin General, although similar to D.3.S. Frog it could be a fusion of any two Penguin monsters.

9 Kaiju

While the Kaiju archetype is mostly based on monsters from the Godzilla and Gamera films, Radian the Mulitidimensional Kaiju is based on Dark Lugiel from the Ultraman Ginga series. Many different Ultra series feature kaiju combining, so a Kaiju fusion would likely be a nod to that and specifically use Radian as one of the fusion material monsters, with the other being any other member of the archetype.

Since Kaiju decks focus on special summoning monsters and giving control of some of them to the opponent, Kaiju could have their own signature fusion spell card based on the devices used to combine kaiju in various Ultra series.

8 Goblins

Although Goblin Attack Force was first released in the 2002 Pharaoh's Servant booster pack, the Goblin archetype didn't start getting any real support until the New Challengers booster pack was released in 2014. Before that, most Goblin cards were unrelated besides being based on the same creatures.

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Like Goblin Attack Force, a handful of members of the Goblin archetype aren't single individual monsters, but instead groups of them. A fusion could continue this trend by being an even larger group of Goblins becoming a Goblin Army or Goblin Legion, which could be a mixture of all the previously introduced groups of the archetype.

7 Wight Archetype

Skull Servant was known as one of the weakest monsters in the TCG until the Wight archetype was introduced starting with the Light of Destruction booster pack in 2008. Since several Wight cards are royalty or related to royalty in some way, with the King of Skull Servants being the most powerful, a potential fusion could continue that trend.

An Emperor Of Skull Servants could boost this archetype by increasing the attack and defense of all members on the field and could make them return from the dead any time they're destroyed.

6 Blue Flame Swordsman & Dark Magician

While the Dark Flare Knight, a fusion of the regular Flame Swordsman and the Dark Magician, does already exist, a type of monster card known as "retrained counterparts" has appeared more frequently over time. The Blue Flame Swordsman, the retrained effect monster counterpart of the classic fusion monster, is both stronger easier to summon when compared to its predecessor.

A Blue Dark Flare Knight could not only keep the effects of the original but also add on an attack-boosting effect similar to that of Blue Flame Swordsman, making it a great addition to any pure Warrior or mixed Warrior and Spellcaster deck.

5 Armed Dragon & Ojamas

As a reference to the character Chazz Princeton from Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, select Ojama cards such as the spell card Ojamatch and the trap card Ojama Pajama also support the Armed Dragon archetype. This connection has the potential to go even further, with the introduction of a fusion combination of any Armed Dragon and any Ojama monster.

There's already an Ojama King, Emperor, and Knight, so a fusion could be an Ojama Royal Dragon that could help connect support for both archetypes further through a new effect that supports both. Although it would be weird to see a powerful dragon wearing the bathing suits the Ojamas are known for.

4 The Toon Archetype

Toons have been a well-known archetype ever since antagonist Maximillion Pegasus first used them in the anime series, and the archetype has expanded considerably since then, yet still has no fusion monsters. Despite the existence of Toon Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Toon Dark Magician, Toon Buster Blader, Toon Red-Eyes Black Dragon, Toon Summoned Skull, and Toon Cyber Dragon, there is no Toon Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, Toon Dark Paladin, Toon Black Skull Dragon, or Toon Cyber End Dragon.

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It seems so obvious, and yet after 18 years, there are somehow still no Toon fusion monsters. Maybe introducing a Toon Polymerization card could help change that.

3 The Kuriboh Archetype

The ever-popular fluffballs, the Kuriboh archetype has never had a fusion monster despite how frequently new members of the archetype are introduced, with the closest things being the anime versions of Kuribandit and Kuribabylon.

Instead of making a fusion with different characteristics of each member of the archetype, maybe the five Kuriboh brothers or any two or more members of the archetype could combine to make a giant multicolor Kuriboh - the name Rainbow Kuriboh is already taken. It could fully protect the player from any life point damage, and when destroyed it could special summon the monsters it used as fusion material.

2 Blue-Eyes White Dragon & Red-Eyes Black Dragon

Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Red-Eyes Black Dragon may each support decks of their own, but could become an even more powerful entity as combined support for a general dragon deck. They could combine to become a Purple or Amethyst-Eyed Dragon that supports Dragon monsters while at the same time utilizing the field control and damage abilities of each archetype.

This potential fusion could cause effect damage and revive a Dragon monster every time one of the opponent's monsters is destroyed by a Dragon on the field. This may seem overpowered, but a fusion of two of the most well-known Dragons in the entire game deserves a powerful effect.

1 Dark Magician & Blue Eyes White Dragon

Two of the most recognizable cards in all of Duel Monsters, it's shocking these two legendary creatures never received some kind of fusion, especially when cards like Dragon Master Knight (also known as Master of Dragon Soldier) and Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon exist.

A Blue-Eyes Silver Deity or Blue-Eyes Silver Celestial, referencing the religious monsters of the Blue-Eyes archetype, would likely be stronger than Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon in terms of attack and defense and could increase its attack whenever a Dragon monster is special summoned. We don't know a long-awaited fusion will ever exist, but maybe someday.

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"The ultimate wizard in terms of attack and defense." For many, those were the first words read on a Yu-Gi-Oh! card. Perhaps one of the most iconic cards in the game's history, Dark Magician has had many support cards added to the game through the years.

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Yugi's iconic Ace Monster has formed into a rather large Archetype with a plethora of cards that strengthen any Dark Magician Deck. Not only that, but some Dark Magician cards are so powerful, many Decks are playing it that aren't even focused around Dark Magician itself. Being one of the oldest cards, Dark Magician gets tons of support.

15 Dark Magic Inheritance

Dark Magic Inheritance is one of the many searches that Dark Magician has access to. It requires two Spell cards to be banished to use, but with how many Spell cards there are within all Dark Magician decks, this is a non-issue. Dark Magic Inheritance lets you search out just about any non-Monster Dark Magician support card.

It is a hard once per turn, but that's all the use you need. Since it is a Quick-Play spell, you can use it on the opponent's turn to fetch out a card you will need to handle whatever board they end up building.

14 Dark Magic Attack

Heavy Storm is banned for a reason. Being able to completely destroy all backrow on the field is fantastic, and Dark Magicians have an in-Archetype support card that is a one-sided Heavy Storm.

Dark Magic Attack is one of the oldest Dark Magician support cards and still sees play to this day. It is a searchable card that can be fetched out by a plethora of Dark Magician cards, making it one of the best Dark Magician Spell cards in the game. It does require a Dark Magician on the field to use, but Dark Magician decks have no issue meeting this requirement.

13 Secrets Of Dark Magic

Secrets Of Dark Magic is the Dark Magician support card that allowed it to easily go into either it Fusion or Ritual Monsters. It is one of the few cards in the game that has the option to do either on a single card. Dark Magician Fusion Monsters are no joke, and their Ritual Monsters are just as powerful.

It's a basic card in that you still have to use materials from your hand or field, but the fact that it is searchable within the Archetype is what makes it so good. Not only that, but it is a Quick-Play Spell, so you can surprise your opponent with an unexpected Monster to interrupt their plays.

12 Magician of Chaos

While it isn't as notable as its Blue-Eyes counterpart, Magician Of Chaos still makes for a fantastic Ritual Monsters that Dark Magicians have access to. Whenever a Spell or Trap card is activated, it can destroy a card on the field. This effect combined with Secrets Of Dark Magic allows you to catch your opponent off guard by a summon of it.

Magician Of Chaos can also float into other Chaos or Black Luster Soldier Rituals, allowing it to have synergy with a Ritual-heavy build of Dark Magicians. It's also treated as Dark Magician on the field, allowing you to use other Dark Magician support cards that require it on the field.

11 Soul Servant

Soul Servant is one of the best ways for Dark Magician decks to draw a lot of cards. While the first effect is generally a bit detrimental, cards like Magicians' Souls can dump Soul Servant into the Graveyard to only get an advantage out of it. With how many Dark Magician cards are counted as Dark Magician, it's possible to draw an entirely new hand with just one activation of Soul Servant.

Soul Servant isn't as stand out as other cards, but its ability to get you to your key combo pieces is what makes it one of the best Dark Magician cards out there.

10 Magicians' Combination

Magicians' Combination allows its user to Tribute a Dark Magician or Dark Magician Girl in order to Special Summon the one opposite of the Tributed Monster, and negate the effects of a card that is activated. A Dark Magician Deck doesn't have access to many cards that negate, making Magicians' Combination a very welcome addition to any Dark Magician Deck. Not just that, but if the card is sent from the Field to the Graveyard while face-up, it can destroy any card on the Field without Targeting, which is one of the best forms of removal.

9 Apprentice Illusion Magician

Every Archetype appreciates a card that can search. When Apprentice Illusion Magician is Summoned, it can add a Dark Magician from the Deck to the Hand. It can Special Summon itself from the Hand as well at the low cost of discarding one card.

RELATED: Yu-Gi-Oh!: The 10 Best Ritual Monsters In The Game, Ranked

It has a bonus effect that if a Dark Spellcaster Monster battles, Apprentice Illusion Magician can send itself to the Graveyard and give that Monster 2000 Attack and Defense during the Damage Calculation of that battle. With Link Summoning in the game, being able to get a free Link Material on the Field is always welcome, which makes Apprentice Illusion Magician one of the best Dark Magician cards.

8 Dark Magic Expanded

Dark Magic Expanded is a Quick-Play Spell card that has multiple effects based on the number of Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girls in the Graveyard. If one or more is there, it gives a Dark Spellcaster Monsters 1000 Attack for the rest of the turn. If there are two or more, the opponent cannot activate cards in response to Spell, Trap, and effect activations. Spell and Trap cards cannot be destroyed either for that turn. And lastly, if there are three or more, all Dark Spellcaster Monsters are unaffected by the opponent's card effects.

All effects can be used with one activation, allowing Dark Magic Expanded to give plenty of protection to its user's board.

7 Dark Magical Circle

The card that broke Dark Magician Decks in Duel Links, Dark Magical Circle is great in the TCG as well. When it's activated, its user can look at the top three cards of their Deck and add Dark Magician or a Spell or Trap card that lists it specifically to the hand. In addition, if Dark Magician is Summoned while Dark Magical Circle is on the Field, it allows its controller to banish one card the opponent controls.

Since it's a Continuous Effect, the effect is a lot harder to negate. This makes it so Dark Magical Circle can get rid of problem cards easily and permanently, only needing to Summon Dark Magician, something quite easy to do.

6 Magician's Rod

Magician's Rod is probably the best Normal Summon Dark Magician decks have. Upon Normal Summoning it, Magician's Rod can add a Spell and Trap card that specifically lists Dark Magician to the hand. This allows it to add a plethora of cards that can really turn the tide of a duel around.

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Magician's Rod can also recycle itself from the Graveyard. If its user activates a Spell or Trap card while it's in the Graveyard, its controller can Tribute a Spellcaster Monster to add Magician's Rod back to the Hand. This allows it to be Normal Summoned again, and continuously repeat the cycle.

5 Magician Of Dark Illusion

Magician Of Dark Illusion is an incredibly easy to Summon Monster, and can very quickly snowball Duels in its user's favor. While it can be Normal Summoned, Magician Of Dark Illusion can be Special Summoned from the hand by simply activating a Spell or Trap card during the opponent's turn.

Once on the Field, if a Spell or Trap card is activated (or an effect is used), it can target a Dark Magician in the Graveyard and Special Summon it. When combined with Dark Magical Circle, this can lead to a ton of Banishing while gaining Monsters to Attack with or use for Extra Deck material like Dark Magician Fusion cards.

4 The Dark Magicians

The Dark Magicians is quite a versatile Fusion Monster. Once per turn, if any Spell or Trap Card is activated (including the opponent's), it allows its user to draw a card, and Set it if it was a Spell or Trap card. This Set card can be activated during that same turn. When combined with Deck stacking cards like Dark Magical Circle, this allows Dark Magician decks to very easily draw into cards they may need, including more disruption for the opponent's turn.

Even if The Dark Magician gets destroyed, it can float into both Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl from the hand, deck, or Graveyard, making it one of the best Dark Magician Fusion cards.

3 Eternal Soul

The best Trap card Dark Magician Decks have access to, Eternal Soul is a simple but efficient card for the Archetype. Once per turn, Eternal Soul can either Special Summon a Dark Magician from the hand or Graveyard, or add a Dark Magic Attack or Thousand Knives from the deck to the hand.

In addition, Eternal Soul offers protection to every Dark Magician on the Field, as it makes them unaffected by the opponent's card effects. The downside is that if Eternal Soul leaves the Field, all Monsters on the Field are destroyed. This downside is generally worth it, as many powerful cards can be treated as Dark Magician and give them powerful protection.

2 Magicians' Souls

Magicians' Souls does a whole lot. It has two effects. If it is on the Field, its controller can send up to two Spells or Traps from the Hand to the Graveyard to draw that many cards. In addition, it can send a Level Six or higher Spellcaster Monster from the Deck to the Graveyard to either Special Summon itself, or send itself to the Graveyard to Special Summon a Dark Magician or Dark Magician Girl from the Graveyard.

This can get a free Dark Magician onto the Field, or Spell and Trap cards into the Graveyard with powerful effects there.

1 Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon

Despite having Red-Eyes in the name, Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon is a Dark Magician card as well, with the Fusion Material for it requiring Dark Magician. The card can not be destroyed by card effects or Targeted by them. During the Main Phase, it can destroy Monsters the opponent controls equal to the number of Normal Monsters used for its Summon (most often two).

It can also negate a card or effect at the simple cost of discarding a card and gain Attack while doing so. Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon is incredibly hard to get rid of, with multiple power effects to make it not just the best Dark Magician card, but one of the best cards in the game.

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The first-ever new Monster Type added into the game of Yu-Gi-Oh! were Ritual Monsters, introduced in the third Yu-Gi-Oh! set released Magic/Spell Ruler. Ritual Monsters go in the Main Deck, and require a Ritual Spell in order to summon while tributing Monsters that equal the Level of the Ritual Monster.

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While Ritual Monsters have generally been considered among the weakest of the Monster Types, over the years they have received a ton of support in order to make them stand out, generally by being able to cheat past the normal Ritual mechanics. Ritual Monster decks have greatly improved, with some standing as some of the best decks of all time.

10 Relinquished

The original Ritual Monster, Relinquished was the first Ritual Monster released with an effect, a great one at that. Relinquished allows you to steal an opponent's Monster and equip it in order to steal its statline while giving Relinquished protection.

Not only that, but Relinquished prevents you from taking combat damage, instead inflicting that damage to your opponent.

Relinquished is only a Level One Monster as well, making its tribute requirement extremely easy to meet. Relinquished is hard to get rid of once it's on the field, allowing for control strategies to shine during Goat Format.

9 Cerulean Sacred Phoenix Of Nephtys

The Nephtys Archetype is a series of Monsters that destroy themselves to help gain powerful effects while recurring their effects. Cerulean Sacred Phoenix Of Nephthys is the shining star of the Archetype. It does require some work to get out, as it's a Level Eight Ritual Monster.

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Once it lands on the field, Sacred Phoenix Of Nephthys is very hard to get rid of, making the effort to bring it out worth it. If it ever gets destroyed by battle or card effect, it will return to the field during your next Standby Phase. Not only that, but it can pop multiple cards on your opponent's field by destroying Nephtys cards.

8 Evigishki Gustkraken

Evigishki Gustkraken is a part of the Giski Archetype, and a card that spent a hefty amount of time on the banlist. It's a deceptively simple effect, allowing you to look at two cards from your opponent's hand and shuffle one back into the deck. Giski has no problem with getting Ritual Monsters out on the field.

What makes Evigishki Gustkraken so good is its ability to constantly use its effect. It's not once per turn, and Evigishki Gustkraken can easily be recycled by other Giski cards. Evigishki Gustkraken has the potential to fully wipe out an opponent's hand, leaving them relying on their draw to be able to play the game.

7 Magician Of Black Chaos MAX

The counterpart to Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon, Magician Of Black Chaos MAX is the modern go-to Ritual Monster for Ritual builds of Dark Magician decks. Dark Magician decks have no trouble summoning it. It has a solid statline, but its effects are where the card really shines.

Magician Of Black Chaos MAX generally wants to be summoned on the opponent's turn, as it completely prevents their Monster effects from being activated. You can even recycle your Spell cards on your turn, allowing for Magician Of Black Chaos MAX to build you a ton of advantage.

6 Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon

Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon is such a good Ritual deck, a deck that focuses solely on winning with its effect is a viable Rouge strategy. It's one of the most common modern Blue-Eyes builds, and with how much generic Ritual support has been released over the years, it's not hard to win with either.

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With an incredibly high 4000 Attack stat, Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon is also one of the few Monsters that have double piercing damage. This means if it attacks a Monster with zero Defense, that one attack is enough to completely drain the opponent's Life Points.

5 Drytron Meteonis Draconids

Drytron Meteonis Draconids is one of the major reasons Drytron decks were able to stand apart as one of the best decks in the current metagame. Drytron can easily cheat out their high-Level Ritual Monsters, as they all have special conditions that are incredibly easy to meet.

Drytron Meteonis Draconids is so good due to how it interacts with the opponent's field. As a Quick Effect, it can send up to two cards on your opponent's field to the Graveyard. In the modern game, that is enough to completely shut down the opponent's play, as it gets around nearly every kind of protection.

4 Cyber Angel Benten

Cyber Angel Benten is a fantastic Ritual card for how splashable it is in just about every Ritual-focused deck. It's so generically good that it's currently limited on the banlist. Cyber Angel Benten is rarely ever summoned onto the field, and instead used as tribute fodder for other Ritual Summoned.

This allows you to search out any Light Fairy Monster in the game and add it into your hand. This immediately helps you to break even in card advantage. There are plenty of powerful Light Fairy Type Monster in the game, and having a generic searcher that helps you build a board presence is bound to be broken.

3 Nekroz Of Brionac

The Nekroz Archetype was the first time a Ritual Archetype was meta, and not only that, Nekroz was one of the best decks ever released. All the Nekroz Rituals had multiple effects that would trigger by either discarding them or while on the field. This got around Ritual Monster's biggest weakness, that being they clog your hand until you can summon them.

RELATED: Gandora The Dragon Of Destruction (& 9 Other Cards Little Yugi Is Known For)

Nekroz Of Brionac is able to search any other Nekroz Monster, which is an effect every Archetype dreams of. Nekroz Of Brionac is a strong counter to Extra Deck focused decks, as they can shuffle two of them back into the deck, effectively making the opponent's work to summon them worthless.

2 Nekroz Of Unicore

Nekroz Of Unicore can help you to recycle Nekroz cards that were taken care of with effects you'd rather have for a certain game state. While on the field, it acts as a Floodgate for any Extra Deck Monster, as it completely negates their effects while they are on the field.

Nekroz Of Unicore is incredibly versatile, all while being a low-Level Ritual Monster. With the way Nekroz Ritual Spells work, it's not uncommon to get Nekroz Of Unicore and other Nekroz Ritual Monsters on the field at the same time, making for a nearly unbreakable board for any deck that relies on their Extra Deck.

1 Herald Of Ultimateness

Herald Of Ultimateness as the name implies is the ultimate Ritual Monster. Its typing as a Light Fairy allows it to take advantage of generic support for the Type and Attribute combination. Once it's on the field, the opponent's chance to play any card becomes zero.

By discarding a Fairy Monster, Herald Of Ultimateness can negate any effect of a Monster, Spell, or Trap card, or the Special Summon of a Monster. This isn't once per turn either, so as long as you have Fairy Monsters in your hand you can prevent your opponent from doing anything on their turn.

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Synchro Monsters were the first new summoning mechanic introduced in Yu-Gi-Oh!'s Extra Deck during the 5D's era. It quickly became one of the strongest kinds of Extra Deck Monsters, with many powerful cards and Tuners being released over the years.

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As the game has progressed, Synchro Monsters have become easier to make with how easy it is to flood the field with Tuner and non-Tuner Monsters. In many cases, Synchro Monsters serve as fantastic Boss Monsters that end boards always want to have. In other cases, Synchro Monsters have the versatility that allows them to advance their plays in future turns.

15. Ally Of Justice Catastor

While Ally Of Justice Catastor has fallen out of favour in recent years, it still remains one of the best Synchro Monsters that have appeared in the Yu-Gi-Oh! meta. It's a simple Level Five Synchro Monster that can destroy any non-Dark Monster it attacks before damage even applies. This allows Ally Of Justice Catastor to get through a ton of Monsters that would otherwise prove near impossible to get rid of.

Level Five Synchro are incredibly easy to make, and in a meta without a lot of Dark Monsters, Ally Of Justice Catastor is a good Synchro Monster to stick in the Extra Deck.

14. Brionac, Dragon Of The Ice Barrier

Brionac, Dragon Of The Ice Barrier is among the many powerful Synchro Monsters that are a part of the Synchro Ice Barrier lineup. With Brionac, it can take care of just about any Monster on your opponent's side of the field.

Since Brionac, Dragon Of The Ice Barrier returns cards to the opponent's hand, it gets around every form of protection that isn't Targetting protection. It also makes you discard cards to use its effect, allowing you to set up your Graveyard while setting your opponent back for great tempo plays.

13. Junk Speeder

When Junk Speeder first came out, no one gave it a second thought due to Master Rule Four's Extra Deck Monster restrictions. However, with the revision in 2020, Junk Speeder became one of the best Synchro Monsters out there. For Synchro-focused decks, Junk Speeder can get any amount of Tuners you want from your deck onto the field.

Junk Speeder locks you into Synchro Monsters for the rest of the turn, but there are so many fantastic Synchro Monsters that can be made with Synchrons that this is hardly a downside.

12. Cosmic Blazar Dragon

Cosmic Blazar Dragon requires a lot of resources to make and is one of the few Monsters that need a Tuner Synchro Monster and two non-Tuner Synchro Monsters. However, if you decide to do so you are rewarded with one of Yu-Gi-Oh!'s best Synchro Monsters.

Cosmic Blazar Dragon comes with three fantastic effects it can use, all of which prevent your opponent from taking meaningful actions. It can stop a Battle Phase, negate a summon, or Omni-negate any effect, all while banishing itself so that your opponent can not try and take care of it after baiting out its effect.

11. Beelze Of The Diabolic Dragons

The King of many an FTK deck, Beelze Of The Diabolic Dragons was a menace during its prime. While it isn't as powerful now, it's still a good Synchro Monster to use for specific strategies. It's easy to make, only needing a Dark Tuner and a non-Tuner.

Beelze Of The Diabolic Dragons can still be hard for decks to get rid of, as it can't be destroyed by battle or card effects. Not only that, it constantly boosts its own Attack up to destroy the opponent's Monsters and Life Points. Its effect isn't once per turn either, allowing it to play a key role in Burn FTKs.

10. Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend

Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend is a generic Level Eight Tuner, one of the most common levels for Synchro Monsters. It has a situational field wipe effect, but a very powerful one if it can be used. The power to destroy all Special Summoned Monsters on the opponent's side of the field is great, and can even do a hefty bit of burn damage.

While it only destroys Monsters with Attack less than Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend, the likelihood of the opponent having more than 3000 Attack is a low one that it will likely lead to a full wipe. It's one of the best Level Eight Synchro Monsters out there.

9. Black Rose Dragon

Black Rose Dragon is one of, if not the best Level Seven Synchro Monster. On its summon, you can choose to essentially active a Dark Hole that destroys not just Monsters, but Spell and Trap cards as well. It affects your field too, but you will likely only have Black Rose Dragon being destroyed while the opponent loses their entire field.

RELATED: Gandora The Dragon Of Destruction (& 9 Other Cards Little Yugi Is Known For)

If the opponent is playing defensively, you can use its second effect to deal high damage to the opponent if they have any Monsters in Defense Position.

8. Formula Synchron

Formula Synchron is the most played Level Two Synchro and one of the few Synchro Tuner Monsters. It is primarily used to Synchro out into much more powerful Synchro Monsters, but this ability is so good that it's a staple in some of the best Synchro decks in the meta.

Its effect allows you to Synchro on the opponent's turn, so they can't play around with the Monster you are planning to summon. In addition, this can lead to a powerful interruption depending on the Synchro you go into. Level Two is one of the best Tuner levels, making Formula Synchron that much better.

7. T.G. Hyper Librarian

T.G. Hyper Librarian does not have any powerful negate effects, or great Attack or Defense stats. And yet, T.G. Hyper Librarian is such a good Synchro Monster that it is currently Limited on the ban list. It has a simple effect — any time a Monster is Synchro summoned, you can draw a card.

Card advantage is important in Yu-Gi-Oh!, so the ability to draw more than one card per turn is incredible. T.G. Hyper Librarian is a staple in practically every Synchro-heavy deck, as its effect is fantastic and is very easy to go into to make it one of the strongest Synchro Monsters in the game.

6. Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon

Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon requires a lot of effort to go into since it needs both a Tuner and a non-Tuner Synchro Monster to make. However, this effort is more than worth it. Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon comes with a free Monster negate once per turn that also destroys the Monster and gains Attack from it.

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It is even good when battling, as it gets a stat boost if it battles a Level Five or higher Monster. While Xyz and Link Monsters make this effect less relevant, there are still plenty of Monsters that can be affected by it. Its 3000 Attack is already high, so boosting it even higher can lead to devastating damage.

5. Trishula, Dragon Of The Ice Barrier

Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier is the best Level Nine Synchro Monster by a large margin. It has been a few different places on the ban list, with it currently being Limited. When summoned, Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier will banish three cards the opponent controls, one from the hand, one from the field, and one from the Graveyard.

This triple attack on the opponent's cards is fantastic and is even better because it is not once per turn. If you can recycle Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier, you can keep using its effect to completely get rid of the opponent's hand. This gave Trishula a lasting legacy as one of the best Synchro Monsters ever printed.

4. Naturia Beast

Naturia Beast isn't a generic Synchro Monster, as it requires an Earth Tuner and non-Tuner Monster in order to make. Despite this, Naturia Beast is still one of the best Synchro Monsters ever released. It can constantly negate the effects of Spell cards, as its effect is not once per turn.

While the negate isn't exactly free, it only requires you to mill two cards from your deck. This is such a minor cost, especially with the trade-off of negating Spells — some of which are among the best cards in the game.

3. PSY-Framelord Omega

PSY-Framelord Omega is a genetic Level Eight Synchro Monster and is so good it has been Limited on the ban list for quite some time. PSY-Framelord Omega allows you to interrupt the opponent's turn by getting rid of a card from their hand for the duration of their turn.

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Its graveyard effect allows you to not only recycle itself but other Monsters in your own Graveyard. This can create loops with other Monsters very easily. None of its effects are a hard once-per-turn either, so if it winds up in the Extra Deck you can use its effects all over again.

2. Herald Of The Arc Light

Herald of the Arc Light is one of the best Level Four Synchro Monsters and is incredibly versatile in two very different decks. In the best Synchro decks, it can act as a strong negate for both Spell and Trap cards. In addition, it has a floodgate-like effect where all cards sent from the hand or Main Deck are banished instead.

Ritual decks can even take advantage of it, as if it is sent to the Graveyard, you can add either a Ritual Spell or Monster. Ritual decks that can Synchro summon can even take advantage of all of its effects. Herald Of The Arc Light has a ton of great effects built into the one card.

1. Borreload Savage Dragon

Borreload Savage Dragon came out recently and took the crown as the best Synchro Monster in the game. It is a Level Eight Synchro Monster, which is the easier Synchro Level to go into and has generic requirements to make. It does require a Link Monster in the Graveyard to work, but practically every deck can accomplish this.

The boosted Attack from the equipped Monster can make Borreload Savage Dragon incredibly hard to deal with, especially since it comes with an Omni-negate as well. Borreload Savage Dragon is one of the best Boss Monsters in the game, and stands out as the most powerful Synchro in Yu-Gi-Oh!

Disclosure: As an eBay Partner, I may be compensated if you make a purchase.

Yu-Gi-Oh! and Pokémon are mentioned together quite often. Both have relatively similar audiences, involve collecting and trading, and even focus around battling monsters. Since both have very popular animes, extensive video game titles, movies, card games, and other merchandise lines, we thought we would make another comparison: they're monsters.

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To be clear, this isn’t just a comparison of similarities. Monsters in Yu-Gi-Oh! are often humanoids or other types that would never be contained in a Poké Ball.  The ten monsters we’ll be looking at are those that we could realistically see in the Pokémon universe as catchable Pokémon. You won’t find any Obelisks on this list.

10 Blue-Eyes White Dragon

If we had to pick one monster in the Yu-Gi-Oh! universe who would embody a legendary Pokémon, it would have to be the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Not only does its name seem to suggest it is special compared to others on this list, but the Blue-Eyes White Dragon is also regarded as legendary in the anime early on.

Think about it, before we saw the Egyptian God Cards, this bad boy was regarded as the rarest card in existence. Kaiba ripped up one which Yugi’s grandfather owned, making his three the only copies left in the world. When he combined them into one, our universe was shattered.

9 Bitelon

Bitelon is a pretty powerful Yu-Gi-Oh! card which largely goes unnoticed. With 2400 attack and an ability which lets it deal direct damage when attacking defensive monsters, Bitelon is certainly no pushover. At level six, it’s also relatively cheap to get one of these on the field quickly against opponents.

Now imagine this guy as a Pokémon. We think it’d retain its water typing and fit into a similar niche as Electabuzz or Magmar originally had as strong Pokémon with no evolutions. Maybe someday a baby version could be added, but we definitely see the merit in letting Bitelon stand alone as a sweet solo Pokémon.

8 Kuriboh

If you’ve never looked at Kuriboh and thought about a fuzzy Tangela, you will every time you see the card from now on.  Seriously, do a side-by-side. Mind-boggling. Take into consideration all of the different versions of Kuriboh as well, and you’ll see that this card could be placed into a number of cycles within the Pokémon world.

Early on in the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime, Yugi overcomes the mythical Blue-Eyes White Dragon with one of these guys and a little innovation. By comparison, we can’t help but think that Kuriboh is the Pikachu Yugi never had.

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7 Monster Egg

This thing is just cute. Looking at it, we can’t help but think of Togepi. Monster Egg is such a great representation of a baby Pokémon who will eventually evolve, that we can already see where it fits. Even if it doesn’t make the cut as a Pokémon, it could easily be considered as an egg.

Eggs in the Pokémon games still occupy inventory space, so even if you feel this is where Monster Egg logically fits, we still count this as a win. If it is an egg, it’s technically already in the game. Its flavor text gives us an edge though, in that it clearly attacks by flinging eggshells. Pokémon have attacks.

6 Ryu-Ran

Speaking of eggs, how about this card? If Monster Egg isn’t close enough, Ryu-Ran has to be. Not only does it have visible arms, legs, and wings, but it also has a name that isn’t just a description. Perhaps this could evolve from Monster Egg. Perhaps not.  Either way, it comes packed with its own evolution in the form of Magna Ryu-Ran.

The requirement of Toon World for Magna Ryu-Ran makes this seem like evolutions that would require an evolution stone. If you count Monster Egg as the stage one, this line could fit into a generation, just as the Oddish line does.

5 Baby Dragon

Baby Dragon also has an evolution in the fusion monster Thousand Dragon. It really makes us think of Slowpoke even though it embodies both of his evolutions. On the one hand, Baby Dragon and Time Wizard combine in a similar fashion to the fusion of Slowpoke and Shellder to become Slowbro.

On the other hand, if you think about Time Wizard as an item and the spell card Polymerization as a trading mechanism, this process is a lot more akin to the Slowking evolution. In any case, we think Baby Dragon is right at home on this list and would make an excellent addition to Pokémon.

4 Petit Moth

To start, this is basically Caterpie. Look at it. This card is famous for being one of Weevile Underwood’s most important cards in the anime. Outside the anime, bug decks are pretty popular designs that see a lot of play.

As it is, this card was made to be a Pokémon. It has several evolutions in the card version based on how long the monster card Cocoon of Evolution is attached to it. With the powerful card Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth being an ideal result of this, it’s easy to see how these decks can gain powerful advantages.

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3 Relinquished

Relinquished is a powerful ritual monster who takes over the stats of another monster and equips it. When it's supposed to die, that other monster dies instead. It makes a great way to clear your opponent’s monsters and it’s a ton of fun at parties. We like to think of it as a much more intimidating Ditto.

Unlike Ditto, this guy has a fusion which is essentially an evolution. The Thousand-Eyes Restrict, which results from fusing Relinquished with Thousand-Eyes Idol, is a beefed-up version which also locks all opposing monsters into their current positions and prevents them from attacking.

2 Tatsunootoshigo

How this ever became a Yu-Gi-Oh! card is a bit beyond us, but it's definitely a runner-up for the strangest cards ever made. Its text box says “A bizarre monster with the torso of a horse and a fish's tail. It gallops through the sea as if it were the wind.” If that doesn’t sound like a Pokédex entry, nothing does.

Since it has an Earth typing, we’d probably go ahead and change that if Tatsunootoshigo were to make the translation into Pokémon, but little more. Rapidash and Ponyta already have a corner on the flaming horse market, so there’s definitely room for this mermaid companion. If only it were a ghost Pokémon, Tatsunootoshigo could make consideration for a bizarre list based on the Pokédex alone.

1 Fenghuang

We feel like Fenghuang already exists in Pokémon. Take a long hard look at Ho-oh and tell us that there isn’t a striking resemblance. Once you’ve compared the images, we think you’ll agree that Fenghuang fits right in as a legendary bird for the generation of Pokémon we’re building in this article.

Fenghuang’s ability gives the sense that it’s a bit elusive to boot. That definitely doesn’t hurt our argument. Add to that the ability to destroy all traps and spells, and we have a legend in the making right here. The only knock we can find with bringing Fenghuang in right away is the abundance of legendary birds with the fire type. Thanks, Moltres.

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Yu-Gi-Oh! is among the most popular trading card games in the world. Its diverse and expansive array of cards alongside its simple yet complex play has garnered it much fame. Both players new and old can easily assemble a relatively similar collection of cards into a deck ready for play. However, the competitive side of Yu-Gi-Oh! favors only the most effective and versatile decks to date.

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These decks are regarded as the meta of Yu-Gi-Oh! and are essentially the best decks of the game. While the list is everchanging there have been many decks that remain prominent. These decks boast strategies or cards that dominate the meta and easily overcome any challenge presented. Without a doubt, these are the best Yu-Gi-Oh! decks of this year and quite possibly the next.

7. Virtual World

The Virtual World archetype has risen in popularity for its ability to easily swarm the field. Virtual World cards do this by banishing cards or sending them from the deck to the graveyard. From there they can be Special Summoned by a Virtual World card. Filling the field allows players to overwhelm foes or prepare for Synchro and XYZ monster plays.

The Virtual World archetype's reliance on banishment and the graveyard make it exceedingly difficult to overcome. There is very little that opponents can do to stall or stump this deck and win. It is this resilience and versatility that make a Virtual World deck such an astounding metagame option. Moreover, the Virtual World Gate sub archetype furthers this deck's already incredible swarming capabilities.

6. Drytron

The Drytron archetype is renowned for its expeditious and unique method of Ritual Summoning. Drytron cards rely on attack value to Ritual Summon rather than levels. This offers a quick and easy means of Ritual Summoning that can utilize nearly any Light Machine monster. Being able to Ritual Summon with such ease allows players to gain an advantage early on.

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The Drytron archetype's use of Light Machine monsters creates numerous opportunities for synergy. Players can capitalize on this dependency to include a variety of other cards. For instance, Light Machines cards such as Cyber Angels work immensely well with Drytron decks. This grants Drytron decks a great deal of unpredictability as there are numerous cards they can utilize.

5. Zoodiac

The Zoodiac archetype is regarded as one of the best for its unparalleled consistency in duels. Zoodiac cards focus on effortlessly summoning XYZ monsters, enhancing them, and supporting them. This allows powerful XYZ monsters to be summoned with little investment. Bringing such powerful monsters to the field with nearly no effort allows players to easily overwhelm foes.

The Zoodiac archetype's ability to effortlessly summon XYZ monsters makes it incredibly reliable. While other meta decks have specific requirements, Zoodiac cards can build off any card from their archetype. This makes Zoodiac decks incredibly fast and adaptable in any duel. This makes Zoodiac decks predictable, but it is a negligible flaw when compared to its strengths.

4. Adamancipator

The Adamancipator archetype is famous for its proficiency in recycling cards. Adamancipator cards function to search for and retrieve the components necessary to Synchro Summon monsters. This allows players to easily bring out powerful cards with little cost to themselves. Even if these noteworthy Adamancipator cards are sent to the graveyard, they can easily be recovered and reused again, and again.

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The Adamancipator archetype's ability to find and use certain cards makes it incredibly versatile. Many other decks have ways to search for necessary cards, but none are quite like Adamacipator cards. Whether from the top of the deck or the graveyard, players can easily search for cards with Adamancipators. This makes Adamancipator decks a reliable, consistent, and enduring choice for the meta.

3. Dogmatika

The Dogmatika archetype is popular for its unique focus on Extra Deck monsters. Every Dogmatika card's effect will take advantage of or hinder opposing Extra Deck monsters. Many of these effects involve disrupting or countering Extra Deck monsters while others benefit from their summoning. This allows Dogmatika decks to easily overcome game-ending Extra Deck monsters and gain the upper hand.

The Dogmatika archetype can destroy nearly every deck in the meta. The Extra Deck typically holds the most vital monsters of a deck. Being able to completely negate these monsters creates many opportunities for players. Even if opponents do not possess Extra Deck monsters, players can benefit from their own to carry out the Dogmatika card's effects.

2. Shaddoll

The Shaddoll archetype is well-known for its reliance on flip effects and the graveyard. These cards benefit from being set and destroyed so that they may activate effects. Shaddoll effects may aid players, debilitate opponents, or summon the stronger El Shaddoll monsters. Shaddoll decks hold a great deal of versatility which makes them difficult to prepare for.

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The Shaddoll archetype's adaptability is what makes it an excellent base for many decks. Shaddoll cards act as a focal point for others that rely on graveyard effects. For instance, Lightsworn cards work exceptionally well with Shaddoll decks since it often depends on the graveyard. While graveyard decks like this can be easily countered, the many opportunities Shaddoll decks create are well worth it.

1. Sky Striker

The Sky Striker archetype is popular for its incredibly powerful effects that can aid players and debilitate opponents. Sky Striker cards rely heavily on there being no monsters on your side of the field and at least three spells in the graveyard. Once these conditions are met, Sky Striker cards can unleash phenomenal effects involving Extra Deck monsters or hindering foes.

The Sky Striker archetype can easily meet its requirements and take advantage of its incredible effects. Moreover, players can easily bring out Extra Deck Sky Striker monsters to further enhance these effects. However, to effectively utilize these card effects players must be patient and careful. Rushing into duels or making mistakes can be costly, although, using Sky Striker decks correctly is exceedingly rewarding.

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Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel is the newest way to play the card game in an all-virtual capacity, and one of the most accessible in quite some time. With Master Duel, just about every card ever released is available, with its own special banlist to boot.

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One of the many kinds of decks you can make in Master Duel are those focused around Xyz summoning. With the release of Zexal, Xyz summoning has been a staple of the game since its inception, still seeing widespread play to this day. Since Xyz Monsters use semi-generic Monsters, many decks can easily go into Xyz Monsters.

10. Hieratic

Hieratic is an Archetype consisting of primary Dragon Monsters that's built around special summoning themselves while sacrificing their Attack and Defense stats to go into powerful Rank Eight Xyz Monsters. With how many generic Dragon support cards are in the game, Hieratic has a lot of consistency bolstering its power.

The Hieratic Archetype is one that is fairly splashable, especially in decks that run other Dragon Type Monsters. They offer quality Xyz Monsters that can stun the opponent, either by negating effects or by wiping the field of their Monsters, all while advancing your own board state.

9. Constellar

Constellar is a series of Monsters that are built around Xyz summoning. They were one of the first popular Xyz Archetypes, thanks to their inclusion in the incredibly iconic Duelist Alliance Set. They can easily flood the field, allowing them to Xyz summon into their lower Rank Xyz Monsters.

After you take advantage of those, many Constellar decks can easily cheat out higher Rank Monsters by using other Constellar Xyz Monsters as materials. This allows for multiple powerful effects to be used in one turn, easily setting up a board that the opponent will struggle to deal with.

8. Melffy

While definitely the cutest Archetype in the game, don't let the cute looks deceive you, Melffy are a powerful Xyz Archetype. They rely on low Rank Xyz Monsters, primarily Rank Two.

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The Melffy Xyz Monsters have fantastic stun effects that can both return cards to hand or negate the opponent's Monster effects. They can also take advantage of other Rank Two Monsters to help them to go for damage, and even OTK the opponent at times. The Melffy Archetype has a surprising amount of consistency thanks to cards like Rescue Cat and Obedience Schooled allowing for free special summons from the deck.

7. Utopia

The ace Monster of the protagonist of the Zexal anime, Utopia has been a fan-favorite since its first summon. Thanks to its status as an ace Monster, the Utopia Archetype has received a ton of support over the years, allowing for plenty of Xyz options to go into.

One of the most popular uses for Utopia Monsters is to utilize the Utopia Double combo. Number 39: Utopia Double can search out Double Or Nothing, and then you can Xyz into Number 39: Utopia with Utopia Double. You can attack with Utopia and negate its attack, allowing you to use Double Or Nothing for an easy OTK.

6. Time Thief

Time Thief is one of the best Rank Four engines in the game right now. It can very easily bring out multiple Level Four Monsters, that you can then proceed to use for Xyz summons. You can choose to go into generic Rank Four Monsters, or one of the Time Thief ones, likely Time Thief Redoer.

Time Thief does not have many Main Deck cards in their arsenal, allowing for them to be splashed into different kinds of decks for an easily accessible Xyz engine. Time Thief is still a new Archetype, so it'll only get better with time.

5. Water Xyz

Water Xyz is the unofficial name given to the series of Aqua Monsters built on bringing out powerful Xyz Monsters. They don't belong to any official named Archetype, but synergize well together to help bring out multiple different Ranked Xyz Monsters.

Cards like Buzzsaw Shark and Lantern Shark are the primary targets, working together to go into your choice of Water Xyz Monsters. This is generally for Bahamut Shark, whose effect can bring out Toadally Awesome. There are plenty of strong Water Xyz, making the Water Xyz Archetype one of the best for the Xyz mechanic.

4. Burning Abyss

Burning Abyss is one of the most iconic Archetypes in the entire game, with it being meta-relevant (either tiered or rogue) since its release in Duelist Alliance. Burning Abyss isn't the most splashable engine, but in the decks you can play Burning Abyss in, they are fantastic.

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Burning Abyss is all about sending cards to the Graveyard, which is especially good when paired with Archetypes like Phantom Knights. Burning Abyss sends cards to the Graveyard for cost, allowing them to get around most negates that would otherwise put a hamper on this strategy.

3. Numeron

Numeron spent a long time being an Archetype most people overlooked. However, with the release of Numeron Network, it instantly became a serious OTK threat that can win games if the opponent is ill-prepared for it.

Numeron is all about special summoning their Xyz Monsters and then attacking into the opponent and boosting their Attack to swing for an 8000 Attack OTK. Numeron is a surprisingly consistent deck for one that relies on a single card to function. With Master Duel being best-of-one, this makes Numeron even better when compared to a TCG duel.

2. Phantom Knights

Phantom Knights are one of the main faces when it comes to Xyz Archetypes. They are incredibly resilient, with each Phantom Knight having Graveyard effects to boost your board state even further. They even have a Trap card that can easily be made into a Monster for Xyz summoning.

Phantom Knights can continue to recycle themselves by detaching for effects. Not only that, but thanks to their Levels, they can even be brought back from being banished thanks to cards like Leviair the Sea Dragon. The Phantom Knight Archetype is very splashable with other Dark decks as well, making for one of the best Xyz Archetypes in Master Duel.

1. Zoodiac

Zoodiac is one of the best Xyz Archetypes ever printed since they can cheat around the mechanic as a whole. All Zoodiac Xyz Monsters have the effect to Xyz summon themselves using any Zoodiac Monster as all of its material. This means you don't have to meet its usual requirements.

Since Zoodiac does not have that many Main Deck Monsters, Zoodiac is the most splashable Xyz Archetype in the game. One Zoodiac Monster will guarantee you'll be able to get a Zoodiac Drident onto the field, meaning you get a quick effect pop a card on the opponent's field.

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Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel uses an OCG-focused banlist, allowing for decks new and old to get a chance in the spotlight. Among these decks is the Shaddoll archetype, one of the most popular in the history of the game. With how fast duels in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel can be, Shaddoll decks have plenty of answers to a combo deck while acting like one itself.

10. Shaddoll Beast

Shaddoll Beast is a relatively simple card. It's a Level Five, but will never be tribute Set unless you're in a terrible position. However, all Shaddoll cards have effects that trigger when they're sent to the Graveyard by a card effect.

Shaddoll decks have plenty of ways to do this, and Shaddoll Beast is a good target for it as it allows you to draw a card. Drawing cards is incredibly important in Yu-Gi-Oh!, which is why it's so good. Shaddoll Beast isn't an incredibly powerful card, but one with a good bit of versatility to top off a combo.

9. Shaddoll Squamata

Shaddoll Squamata is one of the better Flip Effect Monsters Shaddolls have, allowing you to target a Monster on the field and destroy it when it's flipped face-up. It's one of the best cards to Set to force the opponent to deal with it, but its best effect would be when it's sent to the Graveyard.

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When this happens, it allows you to dump any Shaddoll card into the Graveyard except itself. All Shaddoll cards have powerful triggers when they're sent to the Graveyard by card effect, so Shaddoll Squamata lets you pick out any Shaddoll effect you need at any given time.

8. El Shaddoll Fusion

El Shaddoll Fusion is one of the plenty of Fusion Spells that Shaddoll decks have. It has a hard once per turn clause on it and requires you to use materials from your hand or field as Fusion Materials.

The reason El Shaddoll Fusion is so useful is that it's a Quick-Play Spell. Thanks to this, it allows you to surprise your opponent with a powerful Fusion Monster, most notably El Shaddoll Winda, so you don't get hurt by its Floodgate effect. It also allows you to trigger Shaddoll effects on your opponent's turn.

7. Shaddoll Hedgehog

Shaddoll Hedgehog is the primary searcher for the deck. When it's flipped face-up, its effect triggers to search out any Shaddoll Spell or Trap card. Meanwhile, if it's sent to the Graveyard by a card effect, you can add any Shaddoll Monster from your deck to your hand.

You can only use one of these effects per turn, but the fact it can search out the entire arsenal of the Shaddoll cards is what makes it so good. Usually, searchers can only find Monsters or backrow, but Shaddoll Hedgehog has access to both.

6. El Shaddoll Shekhinaga

El Shaddoll Shekhinaga is one of the more awkward Shaddoll Monsters to go into as it requires an Earth Monster to make, and Shaddolls do not have access to many good ones. However, once it hits the field, El Shaddoll Shekhinaga makes for a formidable Fusion Monster.

El Shaddoll Shekhinaga has an effect that can negate the effect of a Special Summoned Monster by sending a Shaddoll Monster from the hand to the Graveyard. This not only negates the effect but triggers the effect of the Shaddoll Monster it sends.

5. El Shaddoll Apkallone

El Shaddoll Apkallone is a part of the newest wave of Shaddoll support and a very good piece of support at that. It only requires two Shaddoll Monsters to make, so long as they have different Attributes. It even has some protection, as it can't be destroyed by battle.

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When it's Special Summoned, it can permanently negate the effect of a Monster as long as it's on the field. When combined with a card like El Shaddoll Fusion, this can really hurt the opponent during their key plays. If it's sent to the Graveyard, it can search out a Shaddoll card from either the deck or Graveyard, all at the cost of just discarding a card.

4. Reeshaddoll Wendi

Reeshaddoll Wendi is one of the most recent support cards that Shaddoll has seen, and it rose up as one of the stars of the archetype. It is one of the few Shaddoll Monsters that have practically the same effects when flipped face-up and when sent to the Graveyard by card effect.

It allows you to Special Summon another Shaddoll Monster from your deck in face-down Defense Position. This lets you be able to easily trigger the flip effects or use them as Fusion Materials to trigger their other effects.

3. Shaddoll Fusion

Shaddoll Fusion is widely considered to be one of the best Fusion Spells ever printed. The best Fusion Spells are the ones that can use materials from the deck but often come with steep downsides. However, Shaddoll Fusion only requires the opponent to have a Monster that was Special Summoned from the Extra Deck.

There is no other downside to Shaddoll Fusion. And even if the opponent doesn't have a Monster, it can still be used as a traditional Polymerization. When Shaddoll Fusion uses cards from the deck, it lets you use any Shaddoll Monsters. In turn, this allows you to choose the effects that you want to trigger.

2. El Shaddoll Winda

El Shaddoll Winda is one of the strongest Floodgates in all of Yu-Gi-Oh! It has a decent Attack sitting at 2200, and even has a nice effect when it's sent to the Graveyard that brings a Shaddoll Spell or Trap card from the Graveyard to the hand.

Where El Shaddoll Winda shines is its ability to allow no more than one Special Summon per turn. This can completely shut down a ton of decks, all while not hindering Shaddolls too much. It's even able to be brought out through Instant Fusion, making it one of the most useful Shaddoll cards in the game.

1. El Shaddoll Construct

El Shaddoll Construct is the main Boss Monster for the Shaddoll archetype thanks to the plethora of effects it has. When it's Special Summoned, El Shaddoll Construct can send any Shaddoll Monster to the Graveyard from the deck. If El Shaddoll Construct itself is sent to the Graveyard, it can recycle any Shaddoll Spell or Trap card back into your hand.

Its true power comes from its battle effect. Whenever El Shaddoll Constructs battles a Special Summoned Monster it will destroy it instantly. With how common Special Summoning is, El Shaddoll Construct can destroy almost every relevant Monster in the game.

Disclosure: As an eBay Partner, I may be compensated if you make a purchase.

Yu-Gi-Oh!, propagator of everyone’s favorite word to stutter dramatically, celebrated its twentieth anniversary this year – a huge milestone whether you’re a fan of the manga, original Japanese anime, English dub, or the card game. There’s even been a new series for the anime announced for 2020 in honor of this stunning achievement. Even if you haven’t been in touch with the franchise since Yugi Mutou was possessed by an Ancient Egyptian pharaoh, you’ve got to admit that remaining relevant enough after twenty years to promote hype for a new series is impressive.

RELATED: Yu-Gi-Oh!: The 15 Most Powerful Trap Cards, Ranked

But Yu-Gi-Oh! wouldn’t be anywhere without its cards, and for a twentieth anniversary, it would be wrong not to talk about the powerful ones. The legendary ones. The god cards.

So, until someone can get a team of MIT researchers to analyze the purpose of Pot of Greed, here are the ten most powerful god cards in the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG. IT’S TIME TO D-D-D-D-D-DUEL!

10. Raviel, Lord of Phantasms

One of the three Sacred Beasts in Yu-Gi-Oh!, Raviel lends mixed results to your team. Its difficulty to get onto the field depends entirely on how many Fiends you have to Tribute, or by getting all three Phantasm Tokens, which can be a pain. Once you do get it on the field, it’s a decently powerful card, but you have to be focused on burning through your deck to get it out as quickly as possible, and continue burning cards to beef up its ATK/DEF for boosts during your turns.

9. Uria, Lord of Searing Flames

Another Sacred Beast, is also a relatively difficult monster to put down, requiring the use of three, face-up Trap Cards to Special Summon it with no alternatives. You’re going to want a lot of Trap Cards in your hand if you run Uria, because it gains 1000 ATK for each Continuous Trap Card you have, which is only powerful if you run a lot of Traps.

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As a special treat, it can destroy one of your opponent’s set Spell or Trap cards – but afterword, no one can activate Spell or Trap cards until the turn is over. Good for getting rid of Mirror Force, at the very least.

8. Slifer the Sky Dragon

If you’re surprised to see the iconic red dragon wielded by Yugi and Yami in the original series so near the bottom, you’re not the only one. But, as competitive players have discovered, running Slifer is a very difficult thing to do and do well. It’s a masterful stall card if you know what you’re doing, but otherwise it can be a drag to have on the field with too-random stats that make it hard to build a deck around. Its powerful abilities can still crush in casual play, though, if you’re willing to take the risk of an unpredictable card.

7. The Wicked Dreadroot

One of the lesser known Wicked Gods, originally debuting in the Yu-Gi-Oh! R manga, the Wicked Dreadroot might look familiar to you – and you’d be right to recognize it. This card is meant to be the “wicked” counterpart of the Egyptian God Card, Obelisk the Tormenter, and torment it does.

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With a three Tribute price tag, you have to be willing to take a decent kick in the gut to play the Wicked Dreadroot, as the ATK and DEF of all monsters on the field (even yours) are halved when it gets played. Make sure it’s wicked to your opponents, and not to you.

6. Odin, Father of the Aesir

A card that’s particularly hard to summon, it would be wise of you to keep a card like Valkyrie of the Nordic Ascendant in your deck if you run Odin. If played well, this card is a master of destruction, with the ability to make itself immune to Spells and Traps until the end of your turn. It can be Special Summoned back from the Graveyard pretty easily but watch out for banishment; that’s a significantly harder place for Odin to crawl out of, and it wouldn’t hurt to have a backup plan for a banish-happy opponent.

5. Loki, Lord of the Aesir

Same as Odin, it would behoove you to have a card that searches your deck for Nordic monsters if you run Loki, because you’re going to want this card out pretty quick. While it might not be the strongest in brawn, Loki has a few tricks up its mischievous sleeves that can make or break a game.

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Once per turn, you can prevent your opponent from activating a Spell or Trap during your Battle Phase. If it get sent to the Graveyard, Loki is the gift that keeps on giving by letting you banish one Nordic Alfar Tuner and Special Summon it right back – it even gives you a free Trap from the Graveyard too. Isn’t that nice?

4. Obelisk the Tormentor

Sorry not sorry, Kaiba, but while Obelisk is a powerful card, it slips just shy of the top three. Don’t let that discourage you! Obelisk is a good, reliable card, with fixed stats that are easier to build a deck around than its other Egyptian God counterparts. If you have at least two monsters to Tribute, your opponent can kiss their monsters goodbye too, all the while Obelisk stands impenetrable to Spells, Traps, and other card effects. Try pairing him with some Nimble Frogs, while you’re at it. They get along surprisingly well.

3. Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder

Hamon is hard to get onto the field – if you run him it wouldn’t hurt to have a lot of Continuous Spells to burn – but once you do slap it down there? Oh boy. With a solid 4000 ATK/DEF under its belt, any monster this card destroys takes off an extra 1000 LifePoints off your opponent’s total, which is just adding insult to injury.

Not in the mood for attacking? No problem. While in Defense Position, your opponent won’t be able to attack any other card except Hamon. Just rub that salt in the wound a little deeper, why don’t you?

2. The Wicked Avatar

The eeeevil counterpart to Winged Dragon of Ra, the Wicked Avatar is the second on this list for a good reason. It’s always 100 ATK/DEF Point stronger than the strongest monster on the field (except for itself, obviously), and it disables your opponent’s ability to active Spell and Trap cards for two turns after its played. You’ll need three monsters to Tribute for it, but it’s worth it to cripple your opponent for a couple turns so you can wail on them, and likely gain a huge advantage in the process. Wicked, but only for someone that’s not you.

1. The Winged Dragon of Ra – Sphere Mode

While, yes, this card is technically a support card for the considerably weaker “Winged Dragon of Ra,” it’s insanely effective on its own, and you might actually be better off using it without the bird form. It can take out three of your opponent’s monsters right off the bat, which can be a real game changer, and it can’t be targeted by any attacks, Spells, or Traps. If you do end up including the parent card in your deck “Sphere Mode” can Special Summon it with 4000 ATK/DEF Points, and you won’t have to spend a single LifePoint of your own to do it. Now that’s godly.

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