Deckbuilding: Staple Cards

 This is part of a series of articles on the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game, written to assist players participating in the Cup of Greed tournament, hosted by Pod of Greed (the only podcast officially sponsored by KaibaCorp).

 

A staple food is a food that that everybody eats, like bread or rice. A staple card is a card (usually a Spell or Trap) that is good in almost every deck. There are way too many staple cards to actually put them all in one deck, but this list is the starting point for an effective deck's Spell and Trap arsenal.

In the GX Cup of Greeds (Cups of Greed?), we saw Monster Reborn, Mystical Space Typhoon, Bottomless Trap Hole, Mirror Force, Solemn Judgment, and Torrential Tribute. Here are some cards that are new to the field, whether because they're newly released, newly become powerful, or (in the case of the first one) newly unbanned.

UPDATE: I've added one additional card. You will find it at the very bottom, underneath Black Rose Dragon.

Dark Hole destroys all monsters on the field. In 2010, Heavy Storm went out, and Dark Hole came in. The importance of this change is hard to overstate. On the one hand, you can now set four and end without fear of eating a Heavy Storm; on the other hand, your monsters are always a single Dark Hole away from oblivion. This means that this era, despite having the explosive power of Synchros, is also very control-oriented.

 

The Swiss army knife of Yu-Gi-Oh!, Book of Moon is a Quick-Play that flips a face-up monster into face-down Defense Position. BoM has only improved with the introduction of Synchro Monsters, as it can be used to flip a Tuner face-down to prevent it from being used for a Synchro Summon. When your opponent's monster attacks, you can flip it face-down to stop the attack. You can also use it on your own monsters, to protect them from any effects that would depend on them being face-up. This includes Mirror Force (since it only destroys Attack Position monsters), Bottomless Trap Hole (since it needs to verify that the summoned monster has 1500 or more ATK), cards like Fissure and Smashing Ground (for the same reason), as well as Enemy Controller and Dimensional Prison (Enemy Controller's target needs to still be face-up, and Dimensional Prison's target must still be attacking).

Despite these myriad uses, I...actually don't get much use out of Book of Moon myself. I like Enemy Controller more. Maybe it's a me thing.

 

Special Summons a monster from your Graveyard in Attack Position. If Call of the Haunted is removed from the field, the monster is destroyed, and if the monster is destroyed, so is Call. Monster Reborn is superior in most situations, so if you have to pick one you should probably pick that, but Call has some advantages. For example, it can be used as bait: when Call is targeted by your opponent's MST, you can chain it and revive something like Sangan or Dandylion. The monster will be summoned and then immediately destroyed, triggering its effect. If Jinzo is summoned by Call, it negates the effect that would destroy Jinzo, protecting itself.

Call of the Haunted can also be recycled. Notice that the monster is destroyed if Call leaves the field in any way, but Call is only destroyed if the monster is destroyed. If the monster is Tributed, or used for a Synchro Summon, Call will remain behind. You can then use it as fuel for Magic Planter, or return it to the hand with Giant Trunade, Cosmic Fortress Gol'gar, or Dewloren, Tiger King of the Ice Barrier.

 

Effect Veiler is what players call a "hand trap" - kind of a misnomer, since they're almost all monsters. Hand traps have quick or trigger effects that activate from the hand. Kuriboh is the original hand trap. Effect Veiler can be discarded, during your opponent's Main Phase, to negate the effects of one of your opponent's monsters for the turn. The activation timing is limited, seeing as you can't even use it during your turn, and unlike Divine Wrath it doesn't destroy the monster, and it can't negate effects in the Graveyard, but Effect Veiler has no cost and, since it's in your hand, it's difficult to anticipate. You can use Veiler to negate continuous effects, or you can chain it to the activation of an effect to negate that effect. You can also use it preemptively to negate an effect in advance, which is desirable in certain circumstances (you can do this against Stardust Dragon, for example).

Since it has 0 ATK, Effect Veiler can be searched by Sangan. And oh yeah, it's a Tuner!

Ah yes, Enemy Controller. The Swiss army knife of Yu-Gi-no, that's Book of Moon. Enemy Controller is a Quick-Play that can either change your opponent's face-up monster's battle position or, by Tributing a monster, take control of your opponent's face-up monster for the turn. Having two distinct effects is what makes it so good, and the fact it can force an opponent's defending monster to Attack Position gives it a little utility that Book of Moon lacks. But there are also a lot of things that only Book of Moon can do.

 

Here's a strange one. Fiendish Chain negates the effects of an Effect Monster, and also prevents it from attacking. There are plenty of Continuous Traps that stop a monster from attacking (Spellbinding Circle, Shadow Spell, Nightmare Wheel, etc.), but the fact that it negates the monster's effect as well is what puts Fiendish Chain over the top. Like Effect Veiler, Fiendish can negate a monster's effect for free, but doesn't destroy the monster, but it's permanent in exchange for being easily destroyable. This card is very flexible: you might use it to stop a dangerous attack, or to negate a troublesome effect. Like Call of the Haunted, if Fiendish Chain's target leaves the field in a way other than being destroyed, Fiendish will stick around and can be used with Magic Planter or recycled - or it can just clog up a Spell/Trap Zone.

Oh, but one thing: Fiendish Chain only works on Effect Monsters. Normal Monsters are immune, as are Fusion and Synchro Monsters that lack effects.

 

This is probably one of my favorite cards. Forbidden Lance is a Quick-Play that, for the rest of the turn, lowers a monster's ATK by 800 but makes it immune to other Spells and Traps. You can use Lance on your opponent's monster to make it weak enough to destroy, or you can use Lance on your own monster in response to an opponent's Mirror Force, Dark Hole, etc. Keep in mind, Forbidden Lance makes the monster unaffected by everyone's Spells and Traps. You can not only use Lance to protect your monster from your opponent's Torrential Tribute, you can also use Lance to protect your monster from your own Torrential Tribute.

One important drawback is that Forbidden Lance makes the monster immune to everything, including other Forbidden Lances. You can't play two Forbidden Lances to make a monster lose 1600 ATK.

Giant Trunade returns all Spells and Traps on the field to the hand. There are two ways to use Trunade: the clever way, and the real way. The clever way is to use it to recycle your Call of the Haunted, Fiendish Chain, etc. or to reset the turn count on your Swords of Revealing Light. The real way is to clear away your opponent's backrow so you can make a big play and swing for game. For that reason, if your deck can't put a lot of attack power on the field all at once, Trunade may not do much for you.

 

Gorz, the Emissary of Darkness is another hand trap, but unlike Effect Veiler it has plenty of ATK. When you take damage (battle or effect) when you have zero cards on the field, you can Special Summon Gorz from your hand. Then, if you took battle damage, it Special Summons a Token with stats equal to that battle damage. It also has an effect for if you took effect damage, but no one has ever taken effect damage while they controlled no cards, so no one knows what the effect is. Gorz takes you from an empty field to two big monsters, so I think its usefulness speaks for itself. Even setting aside their raw attack power, they can also be used as Tributes or potentially for Synchros (Gorz + Glow-Up Bulb = Level 8). But keep in mind that if your deck relies on a Field Spell, Gorz will be a dead card much of the time.

By shuffling five monsters from your Graveyard back into the Deck, you draw 2 cards. From the 5D's era until its eventual banning, Pot of Avarice was the draw card. Since the Cup of Greed requires you to use Pot of Greed, PoA is less crucial than it otherwise would be, but if your deck puts monsters into the Graveyard fast, it can still be a valuable asset. The best targets for Pot of Avarice are usually Synchro Monsters (and Fusions), since they go back to the Extra Deck rather than fattening your Main Deck.

Some disapprove of Pot of Avarice's Hitler mustache, but imo that just makes him a Problematic Fave.

 

This one's a little strange. For 2000 Life Points, Solemn Warning negates the Summon of a monster, or the activation of a card or effect that Special Summons a monster. You might be wondering why you would want to pay 2000 LP to do that when Bottomless Trap Hole does it for free, and banishes the monster, too. And you'd be right to wonder that! What Solemn Warning does better is that it can negate the summon of Stardust Dragon and Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En, both of whom would negate Bottomless (there are some other monsters as well, like Jinzo, but those are the main concerns). Also, because it stops the summon from even happening, the effects of the monster that activate on summon quite naturally don't get to activate. For example, if you were to Bottomless your opponent's Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier, Trishula would still banish a card from your hand, field, and Graveyard, whereas that wouldn't happen under Warning. Further, because it's a Counter Trap, Trap Stun (see below) can't be activated in response to it. You might consider reserving it for the Side Deck.

 

Trap Stun negates all Trap effects on the field for the turn. It can be used offensively or defensively, depending on circumstance. That is, you can use it to stop your opponent's Traps while you attack, or you can use it in response to a Bottomless Trap Hole, Torrential Tribute, or Dust Tornado to protect your cards. The fact that it negates all Traps makes it quite potent: you can activate it in response to your opponent's Mirror Force, but it's also sealed the Dimensional Prison you didn't know about. Trap Stun has two drawbacks. First, it negates your Traps as well, so it needs be played carefully. Second, it isn't a Counter Trap, so it can't be activated in response to a Counter Trap. This is one of the reasons for the popularity of Solemn Warning.

 

Black Rose Dragon is so goddamn good, it qualifies as a staple even though not every deck can summon it. Take a look at that effect: "When this card is Synchro Summoned, you can destroy all cards on the field." A complete field nuke. It doesn't get much better than that! If you can Synchro for Level 7, you have no excuse not to run at least one copy of BRD in your Extra Deck. Heavy Storm was banned in part, I think, because Black Rose Dragon could pick up the slack. While it's powerful, you need to be careful playing Black Rose Dragon, because summoning it usually means you'll end your turn with no monsters, and quite possibly no backrow either.

 

Upstart Goblin draws you a card, and then your opponent gains 1000 Life Points. While it was printed in Magic Spell Ruler, it didn't see mass play until deep into the Arc-V era, when people gradually became convinced that playing a 37-card deck was epic and based. I know that players rarely run this card in Edison...but we're not playing Edison, are we? I've been putting it in a lot of the decks I've been cooking, and I've liked the results. You can play Upstart at any number, so for example if you have 39 cards and don't know what to include for the 40th, you could always just put in an Upstart. Alternatively, you could have a 40 card deck and add three Upstarts, to use as discards for Summoner Monk without reducing consistency.

 

So there you go. That's an overview of a number of staple cards of the 5D's era (and also Upstart Goblin was here). I've intentionally excluded two famous 5D's cards: Starlight Road and Maxx "C". Without Heavy Storm, Starlight Road becomes less critical, even with the addition of Dark Hole (I also know that Edison Format players have mostly dropped Starlight Road), and most games I expect it would end up dead on the field. As for Maxx "C", it's powerful only in the face of mass Special Summons. Even in tournaments at this time, Maxx "C" would have been useless against Gravekeepers and T.G. Stun, and wouldn't have been worth putting in the Main Deck. That said, you should absolutely put a copy or two of Maxx "C" in your Side Deck.

Other cards you may want to consider for your deck include Pot of Duality, Compulsory Evacuation Device, Foolish Burial, Dimensional Prison, Lightning Vortex, Seven Tools of the Bandit, Threatening Roar, and My Body as a Shield.